Assessment of the effect of growth hormone therapy on quality of life among GHD and ISS children

Background Short stature can generate emotional and social stress in children and adolescents and their parents. Aim To assess the effect of growth hormone (GH) therapy on quality of life (QoL) among growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and idiopathic short stature (ISS) children. Patients and methods This cross–sectional study was conducted at the Suez Canal University endocrinology outpatient clinic in Ismailia City, Egypt, 194 children participated in this study. After receiving GH therapy for a year, children with ISS and GHD who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected at random from the endocrinology outpatient clinic at Suez Canal University in Ismailia City, Egypt. A WHOQoL-BREF QoL evaluation was utilized in conjunction with health-related quality of life, and an Arabic translation of the questionnaire was used. Results This study included 194 children, 107 children with ISS, and 87 children with GHD. Group with ISS had a significantly higher mean of age (13.5±2.8) years than the GHD group (8.5±1.5) years with P value less than 0.001. So, most of the children in ISS group at preparatory school (11–14 years old), while GHD group were at primary school (8–10 years old) with statistically significant difference (P<0.001). So, most of children in ISS group at preparatory school, while GHD group were at primary school with statistical significant difference (P<0.001). Most of children in ISS group have rural residence, positive consanguinity and positive family history of short stature, while GHD group had urban residence, negative consanguinity, and negative family history of short stature with statistical significant differences (P<0.001). Children with ISS had significantly lower height Z score before and after GH therapy as P value less than 0.001. Both groups showed statistically significant increase in height Z score after versus before GH therapy as P value less than 0.001. Mean WHOQoL-BREF domains scores showed a statistical significant increase after GH TTT, in both groups. Conclusion Our findings indicate that a year of GH treatment significantly improved physical, social, psychological and environmental QoL, whereas the physical effects—which are to be expected given the noticeable increase in height—seem to have less of an influence. This is probably connected to the mild physical effects of baseline short height. But there is a correlation between the change in QoL and the height gain in SD, which amply illustrates the role of statural rise in improving QoL.