Outpatient Services Provided by Hospital Pharmacists in Initiating Growth Hormone Therapy for Pediatric Patients: A 10-Year Observational Study
- VernacularTitle:小児への成長ホルモン製剤導入時における病院薬剤師の外来業務：10年間の調査研究
- Author:
Go MORIKAWA
1
;
Yoko HANAOKA
1
;
Mei HORIKAWA
1
;
Eri KOIKE
1
;
Ken KUBOTA
1
;
Katsuko OKAZAWA
1
;
Yoshinaga KUROSAWA
2
;
Sota TANABE
2
;
Yoshihiro OSAWA
3
;
Yosuke SHIMA
3
;
Akira HACHIYA
2
Author Information
- Keywords: growth hormone preparation; outpatient service; hospital pharmacist; task shifting; patient choice
- From:Japanese Journal of Social Pharmacy 2025;44(2):120-125
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: This retrospective study assessed the role of hospital pharmacists in the initiation of growth hormone (GH) therapy in an outpatient setting. The study included 28 pediatric patients (< 15 years old) who started GH therapy at our institution between January 2012 and December 2021. Following physician referrals, hospital pharmacists provided medication counseling to the patients and their families. Notably, 6 patients (20%) opted for a specific GH formulation after receiving detailed explanations from the pharmacists. The observed growth velocity (cm/year) and serum IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) SD scores were comparable to those reported in clinical trials for Norditropin®. Three patients (11%) opted to discontinue treatment. A survey among 5 pediatricians revealed a unanimous agreement that the involvement of hospital pharmacists in outpatient services alleviated their workload during the initiation of GH therapy. Thus, the task of providing medication counseling at the initiation of GH therapy in pediatric patients could potentially be shifted from physicians to pharmacists.
