pLOG

2025-10-22

Research Report: Observing the Impact of Growth Hormone Patient Support Program (PSP) Interventions on Caregiver Support

Recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) therapy has consistently faced adherence challenges in the field of pediatric endocrinology. A recent paper published in *Frontiers in Endocrinology* (April 2025) evaluated the TUITEK® Patient Support Program (PSP), which provides personalized coaching to assist primary caregivers of children receiving r-hGH treatment.

The PSP Program and the Taiwan Cohort Study

The TUITEK® PSP combines behavior change theory (COM-B) with personalized assessments, specifically addressing four key factors: parental role stress, medication knowledge, treatment experience, and self-injection confidence. Through in-depth support via nurse-led phone calls and motivational interviewing, high-risk caregivers receive one to five tailored follow-ups. In the Taiwan program, beyond the standard interventions, additional dimensions—such as children’s emotional burden, perceived treatment necessity, social support, and treatment-related daily burdens—were incorporated for observational study purposes.

 

Study Design and Characteristics of the Taiwan Cohort

The study was conducted simultaneously in three countries (Argentina, South Korea, and Taiwan) using a pre- and post-intervention comparison, but the PSP program and assessments were only applied to high-risk caregivers. In Taiwan, 99 high-risk parents participated and received an average of 366 days of long-term PSP hotline support, with participation rates significantly higher than those in the other countries.

 

Key Research Findings

Analysis of all 409 caregiver participants showed significant improvements across all behavioral dimensions, with notable reductions in treatment-related knowledge gaps, medication confidence issues, psychological stress, and anxiety. The most pronounced improvement was observed in caregivers’ medication knowledge.

 

Key Findings from the Taiwan Cohort Study

  • High Baseline Emotional Stress: In Taiwan, as many as 80.8% of caregivers were initially classified as high-risk, and after the PSP intervention, 75% shifted to low-risk status.
  • 100% Improvement in Treatment Knowledge:  All high-risk caregivers in terms of treatment knowledge and disease understanding ultimately shifted to low-risk status.
  • Increased Self-Injection Confidence: After the PSP intervention, 50.8% of Taiwanese parents showed improvement in self-injection confidence, slightly lower than in other countries.
  • Reduction in Treatment-Related Anxiety: The proportion of high-risk caregivers decreased by 73%.
  • Significant Improvements in Taiwan’s Enhanced Intervention Areas:  Notable reductions were observed in children’s emotional burden (84.0% improvement), perceived treatment necessity (75.0% improvement), social support (62.5% improvement), and treatment-related daily burdens (71.8% improvement).

 

The study confirms that the TUITEK® PSP effectively enhances Taiwanese caregivers’ psychological adjustment, knowledge acquisition, and caregiving confidence. Taiwanese parents initially experienced the highest levels of emotional stress, but with long-term, personalized intervention, significant improvements were achieved, providing a strong strategy to support ongoing treatment adherence in children and improve overall family caregiving quality.

It is important to note that this study focused on behavioral and psychological indicators and did not directly assess clinical treatment completion rates or growth outcomes. Future research should integrate electronic treatment records to examine the impact of these interventions on patients’ long-term health outcomes.


Source of the Paper

This article is based on the paper published in *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, titled “The TUITEK® Patient Support Program Improved Caregiver-Related Behaviors on Growth Hormone Treatment Adherence,” and has been professionally interpreted and summarized using Gemini Pro 2.5.

Koledova, E., Su, P.-H., Chen, Y.-J., Assefi, A., Debicki, M., Cooke, D., Jheeta, A., Jones, A. B., & Moon, J. E. (2025). The TUITEK® patient support program improved caregiver-related behaviors on growth hormone treatment adherence. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 16. 

https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2025.1548558

Su, P. H., Malik, S., Jheeta, A., Lin, Y. F., Su, S. H., Koledova, E., & Graham, S. (2022). Table 2: Investigating the Impact of the TUITEK® Patient Support Programme Designed to Support Caregivers of Children Prescribed Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Treatment in Taiwan .docx [Dataset]. Frontiers in Figshare. 

https://frontiersin.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Table_2_Investigating_the_Impact_of_the_TUITEK_Patient_Support_Programme_Designed_to_Support_Caregivers_of_Children_Prescribed_Recombinant_Human_Growth_Hone_Treatment_in_Taiwan_docx/19720588