TITLE:
Benefit of Growth Hormone Replacement in Adults Older than 60 Years
AUTHORS:
Kristin Arp, Christian Schwahn, Nele Friedrich, Thomas Kohlmann, Jörn Moock, Maria Koltowska-Häggström, Matthias Nauck, Michael Buchfelder, Henri Wallaschofski, Christin Spielhagen
KEYWORDS:
Growth Hormone Deficiency; Quality of Life; Growth Hormone; IGF-I
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
8,
2013
ABSTRACT: Objective: Benefits of replacement therapy in growth hormone deficiency (GHD)
are well documented in younger and middle-aged patients. The aim of our
investigation was to prove the benefit of GH replacement for patients older
than 60 years especially in terms of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of
age as well. Design: Data of 743 consecutively
recruited patients (394 men, 349 women) with GHD aged 20 - 49 (n = 606) and 60 -
69 (n = 137) years enrolled from KIMS Germany (Pfizer International Metabolic
Database) were compared. Treatment effects over the 12 months dose-finding and
the subsequent phase up to three years were analysed using mixed models. Serum
insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), fasting blood glucose, fasting serum
total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) as well as
body mass index (BMI) at baseline and at last visit were studied. HRQoL was
assessed using the Quality of Life-Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in
Adults (QoL-AGHDA). Results: For
both age groups and genders the IGF-I level and standardized IGF-I increased
over the dose-finding phase. In women, the overall QoL-AGHDA score at the
baseline examination was 8.7 (95% CI: 7.7 - 9.7) and decreased to 6.3 (95% CI:
5.1 - 7.6) at the end of the dose-finding phase (p Conclusion: We could show positive
effects of GH replacement on HRQoL in patients older than 60 years of age.
Therefore, GH replacement should be considered in elderly GHD adults without
difference compared to younger age groups.