Hervé Dumas 1Serono International SA, 15 bis Chemin des Mines, Geneva, CH-1202, Switzerland , Paris Panayiotopoulos Serono International SA, 15 bis Chemin des Mines, Geneva, CH-1202, Switzerland, , Dorothy Parker Fast Forward Research Ltd, Crown House, Manchester Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1BH, UK , Vincent Pongpairochana Laboratoires Serono SA, Patients Care Technologies, Coinsins, CH-1267, Switzerland

Results This survey assessed the views of 67 individuals: 19 endocrinologists (Germany, France, Italy and the USA), 18 nurses (UK, Germany, France and the USA), 12 patients (UK and Germany) and 18 parents (Germany, France and the USA). A total of 13 group discussions were conducted, as well as seven face-to-face interviews (in France and the USA).

Of the 19 key device attributes that were rated, participants considered the top five most important features of an injection device to be:reliability, ease of use, lack of pain during injection, safety in use and in storage, and the number of steps in preparation before use, during use and after (Figure 1). Parents, nurses and physicians all regarded reliability as the most important device attribute and ease of use as the second most important device attribute. Participants in most countries (Germany, France and the USA) considered reliability to be the most desirable device attribute, while lack of pain during injection and the number of steps in preparation were ranked the most important device attributes by participants in the UK and Italy, respectively.

 

Nearly all participants (58/67, 87%) had previous experience with the Genotropin Pen® (Pharmacia, Stockholm, Sweden) and nearly half (32/67, 48%) had previous experience with the HumatroPen® (Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, USA) and/or the NordiPen® (30/67, 45%). Eight of the rhGH injection devices used previously by participants were rated using the questionnaire. Mean scores for these devices (grouped according to device type) in the five attributes considered most desirable are shown in Figure 2.

Of the four device options that were demonstrated/introduced during discussions, the electronic device was considered to be the preferred device option by parents (12/ 17, 71%), physicians (11/13, 85%) and nurses (9/16, 56%; Figure 3). Of the remaining three devices, parents generally preferred the cool.click™ needle-free device, while physicians and nurses preferred the Flexpen® and/or the one.click™ device.