INTRODUCTION

This study in Argentina evaluated the impact of the growzen™ buddy smartphone app on adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment.

METHODS

The adherence data, invitation dates with a link to the app, app activation dates, and height measurements entered were extracted from the growzen™ digital health ecosystem. Patients with 12 months of adherence data, aged ≥2 years at treatment start, and aged <19 years were selected both before and after app implementation. Mean adherence was classified as optimal (≥85%) suboptimal (<85%). Adherence before and after implementation and the pre-post effect on adherence were assessed.

RESULTS

Data for 830 patients were available. Prior to app implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence was 68% ( = 348/515). Following the app implementation, out of 315 patients, 302 (96%) received an invitation with a link to the app, 225 (71%) activated their account, and 127 (40%) entered height data in the first year. There was a significant early increase in the proportion of patients with optimal adherence following implementation: 82% ( = 258/315), < 0.001. After implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence included 80% ( = 78/98) of those with an active account who did not enter height measurements and 89% ( = 113/127) of those who did. There was a significant and positive pre-post app effect on adherence ( < 0.01) in patients with an active account.

DISCUSSION

Our results show that using the growzen™ buddy app has a rapid and positive impact on adherence to r-hGH treatment, and patients who were more engaged with the app demonstrated better adherence.