Gonadotrophin products: empowering patients to choose the product that meets their needs.
Gonadotrophins are injected daily over several days in follicular stimulation protocols. To facilitate self-injection, various injection or reconstitution devices are available. It was investigated whether injection training enabled patients to choose their preferred device. Patients and their partners received nurse-led training about: powdered urofollitropin (Bravelle) with needle-free reconstitution (Q-Cap)and conventional needles and syringes for administration; follitropin beta (Follistim AQ) in a premixed, prefilled cartridge (Follistim AQ Cartridge) with a reusable injection device (Follistim Pen); or follitropin alfa (GONAL-f) in a disposable, premixed, prefilled injection device (GONAL-f RFF Pen). A total of 123 participants (81 women) attended the training and were asked to complete a questionnaire after training. More participants expressed a preference for a pen injection device than the needle-free reconstitution and conventional syringe (84.6% versus 5.7%; P < 0.0001). Of the 94 participants who preferred a particular device, more preferred the follitropin alfa prefilled pen (68.1%) than the follitropin beta cartridge and pen (24.5%; P < 0.0001) or urofollitropin with needle-free reconstitution device and conventional syringe (7.4%; P < 0.0001). It was concluded that nurse-led training classes empowered participants to choose a device that they considered most suitable to their needs.
Weiss
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Portola Valley Women's Health Center, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 3220 Alpine Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028, USA. weissn@pamf.org
D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D043373:Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Human / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006062:Gonadotropins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D009339:Needles; D010062:Ovulation Induction / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D050477:Urofollitropin / Q000008:administration & dosage
D043373:Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Human; D006062:Gonadotropins; D050477:Urofollitropin; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone