Patients pleased with EasyPod features more likely to be device-compliant

Patients who were satisfied with the features of the EasyPod, a growth hormone (GH) injector device, are more likely to show better compliance, according to a recent study.

“The present study results demonstrated that higher scores of patient satisfaction with the technical and the tracking features of the EasyPodTM delivery device were significantly associated with higher compliance,” the researchers said.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional, multicentre study including 186 children and adolescents (mean age 11.8 years, 62.9 percent boys) who had been diagnosed with growth disorders. All patients were receiving recombinant human GH delivered through the EasyPod device. Patients and their guardians were given a questionnaire that evaluated their satisfaction with the device, its drawbacks, and their preference regarding its technical and personalized features.

Participants had an average device compliance of 87 percent, with 100 (53.76 percent) showing injection compliance ≥90 percent. Twenty-nine patients, who had been using EasyPod for an average of 2.57 years, had 100-percent compliance. [Front Pediatr 2022;doi:10.3389/fped.2022.839278]

Majority of the patients in the ≥90 percent compliance found the following device features to be “very useful”: hidden needle (74 percent), skin sensor (68 percent), and preset dosing (77 percent). Meanwhile, only 45.3 percent, 39.5 percent, and 59.3 percent of patients with lower injection compliance found these respective features to be very useful. Kruskal-Wallis H tests revealed these differences to be statistically significant.

A similar pattern was found regarding the device’s tracking features. Many patients with ≥90 percent compliance found EasyPod’s tracking of injected and missed doses to be very useful, as opposed to counterparts with lower compliance (78 percent vs 47.7 percent; p<0.001).

The device’s indicators for battery and medicine left in cartridge were also significantly more likely to be useful for compliant patients (P<0.001). Of note, the device’s personalized screen message feature was also associated with better compliance (p=0.04).

On the other hand, compliant participants said that the need to keep EasyPod inside the refrigerator was its most inconvenient feature, a sentiment that significantly fewer patients in the lower compliance group agreed with (56 percent vs 39.5 percent; p<0.05).

“The present study was carried out to assess patient satisfaction with the technical and tracking features of the EasyPod delivery device and its association with compliance,” the researchers said. “We also aimed to explore the most preferred personal features of the device, patients’ scoring of pain severity, and drawbacks of the device.”

“Patient feedback on drawbacks and pain scores can provide a basis for improving the technical features and better utilizing the comfort setting for further improving compliance,” they added.