Effects of growth hormone therapy on psychosocial characteristics in children born small for gestational age

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of growth hormone (GH) treatment on psychosocial characteristics over time in infants to school age children with small-for-gestational age (SGA). Psychosocial behavior was measured by a 29-item questionnaire completed by parents of total 88 SGA short stature children. Scores at the beginning of GH treatment and one year after were compared as well as those of subsets of low-dose group (43) and high-dose group (45) at such time points. In total 88 children from the low-dose and high-dose groups, post-treatment average score for 7 items: “appetiteâ€, “likes and dislikesâ€, “good sleepâ€, “finding of desk and chair as oversized and inconvenient to useâ€, “bullied for short statureâ€, “conscious of short statureâ€, and “apprehensiveness in daily activity†were significantly higher than pre-treatment. The results to this study revealed that GH treatment contributes to improvement of various aspects in daily life. These improvements in psychology and behavior suggest that increase in height of SGA stature patients effectively improves psychosocial issues in daily life.