Patients' perceptions on the usability of the SurePal™self-injection device for Omnitrope®: a questionnaire-based observational study conducted in paediatric patients in France

Background: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to evaluate attitudes towards a reusable self-injection system, SurePal (TM), among paediatric patients with growth disturbances who were prescribed treatment with somatropin (Omnitrope (R)) as part of routine clinical practice. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was incorporated into the multinational, multi-centre, noninterventional PAtients TReated with Omnitroper (PATRO) Children study. Questions were mainly focused on five areas: the attractiveness of SurePal (TM); training received; use of the device; opinion of the low-drug wastage system; experience compared with previous devices used (among pretreated patients). Results: Final results from participants in France are reported. Completed questionnaires were returned by 409 participants. Most patients (55%) were male and 89% were recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH)-treatment naive. Around 57% of children completed the questionnaire by themselves, while 43% had help from a family member/other person. The mean (standard deviation) age of all participants was 11.3 (3.6) years, and most patients were aged 10-12 years (n = 126) or 13-15 years (n = 117). Overall, 86% of patients reported that preparing SurePal (TM) for injection was easy/very easy. Similarly, 83% reported that performing injections with SurePal (TM) was easy/very easy. The attractiveness of SurePal (TM) was rated as good/excellent by the majority (85%) of patients; this proportion was similarly high (> 80%) across all age groups. The dose-memory function was rated as helpful/very helpful by 54% of patients. Of the 174 patients who reported using the low drug-waste feature, 90% found it to be helpful/very helpful. Among the 24 pretreated patients, 17 reported that SurePal (TM) was better/much better than their previous device. Conclusions: This questionnaire-based survey conducted in a large cohort of paediatric patients with growth disturbances from France confirms the ease of use of SurePal (TM) to support daily administration of Omnitrope (R) across all age groups. The demonstrated acceptability of the device may help to improve patient adherence to long-term daily treatment with rhGH.