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Assessment of user-friendliness of the Norditropin FlexPro for pediatric patients treated with recombinant human growth hormone: results of an open-label user survey

  • Masanori Adachi EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 10, 2013

Abstract

Objective: To assess the user-friendliness of the Norditropin FlexPro (Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark), a newly developed growth hormone (GH) injection pen.

Methods: This study consisted of a single-center, single-arm, open-label, questionnaire based survey of patients undergoing GH treatment for diverse indications who were scheduled to switch from the formerly used device Norditropin NordiFlex (Novo Nordisk A/S) to the FlexPro and evaluate each device’s usability.

Results: A total of 82 patients participated in the study. Compared to the NordiFlex, the FlexPro was regarded as easier to grip, easier to hold during injection, and more stable during injection. The degree of pain at insertion perceived by the patient and the patient’s fear of injection were significantly decreased when using the FlexPro, and 81% of the respondents selected the FlexPro as the more preferable device.

Conclusions: The FlexPro was more user-friendly than the NordiFlex. Perception of pain at insertion and fear of injection were lessened by using the FlexPro.


Corresponding author: Masanori Adachi, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kanagawa Children’s Medical Center, Mutsukawa 2-138-4, Minami-ku, Yokohama 232-8555, Japan, Phone: +81 45 711 2351, Fax: +81 45 742 7821, E-mail:

The author is deeply grateful for the cooperation of the participating patients and their caregivers.

Conflict of interest statement

Funding: This study was funded by Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd. The author and the funder collaborated to design the study plan and the survey procedure. The funder had no role in data collection or analysis, the decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Received: 2013-2-19
Accepted: 2013-6-12
Published Online: 2013-07-10
Published in Print: 2013-11-01

©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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