Background Hormonal treatment can improve the clinical situation of child and adolescent patients because it enables them to reach an optimal height, and to avoid the physiological and psychological consequences of lacking growth hormone. For this reason, security and efficiency must be guaranteed.

Purpose To evaluate the prescription and to monitor the treatment of paediatric patients treated with growth hormone.

Material and methods A retrospective and observational study was performed on patients that initiated growth hormone treatment between 2009 and 2016. The data we used were obtained from patients’ records and collected following the Ministry of Health recommendations: dose of the drug, height, weight, insulin growth factor I (IGF-I) value, growth rate, bone age, adult height prediction, pubertal study and growth chart. Adverse effects and adherence to treatment were considered. The adherence was calculated using the drug dispensation records from the Pharmacy Service.

Results Thirty-two patients with an average age of 10±3 years initiated the treatment: 56% of them were children (18). Diagnosis was classic growth hormone deficiency in 90% of cases (29) and intrauterine growth retardation in 10% (3) of them. All of them had data on height, weight and growth rate. Adult height prediction was only present in 3% of cases (1) and pubertal study in 75% of cases (24). Growth chart was not present in any of them. Bone age was studied in 87% of cases (28). Insulin growth factor was determined after 12 months of treatment in 68% of cases (22). Initial dose was adequate in all cases and 18% of cases (6) endured a mistaken dosage when dose was changed after that. Ninety per cent of patients (29) were adherent. Twelve per cent (4) presented drug-related adverse effects: hyperinsulinaemia (2), myalgia (1) and cephalea (1).

Conclusion Treatment monitoring did not comply with established criteria. There is a need for pharmaceutical care in order to guarantee optimal monitoring and security of treatment.

No conflict of interest