The Influence of Adolescence on Psychosocial Functioning of Patients with Growth Hormone Deficiency - EAP 2019 Congress and MasterCourse Porto Palacio Hotel

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¹Department of Endocrinology - Growth and Development, Athens General Children's Hospital "P. & A. Kyriakou", Greece
²Department of Trauma & Orthopaedics, Western Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, UK
³Department of Nursing Administration, Athens General Children's Hospital "P. & A. Kyriakou", Greece
⁴Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Objective: The evaluation of influence of puberty on psychosocial functioning of patients with growth hormone deficiency.

Materials and methods: The study population consisted of 330 growth hormone deficient children and adolescents with no underlying disease, treated with growth hormone. The psychosocial functionality was assessed using the Greek version of the Quality of life in Short Stature Youth (QoLISSY) questionnaire, the Self Perception Profile (SPP) questionnaire and the Silhouette Apperception Technique (SAT) questionnaire. Patients were asked to complete the questionnaires as a routine component of their medical visit.

Results: Adolescents had lower scores on the “Coping” scale (refers to the way the child copes with negative feelings or experiences due to short stature) p=0.012 and on the “Treatment” scale (refers to the child`s experiences regarding growth hormone treatment) p=0.012 of the QoLISSY questionnaire. Answers on the SAT questionnaire showed that a higher percentage of adolescents overestimate their current height as compared with younger children (76% vs 65.3% respectively) (p=0.022), whereas they estimate more accurately their final stature (9.2% vs 3.5% respectively) (p=0.040). Adolescents that overestimate their current height scored higher on “Relationships with peers” and “Self-esteem” scales of the SPP questionnaire.

Conclusions: The negative feelings of adolescents regarding short stature and growth hormone treatment may relate with the overall questioning, anger and refusal to accept the situation that characterizes puberty. A possible explanation of high overestimation rates for adolescents’ current height could be that stature is more important for children as they grow up, whereas expectations about final height are more realistic as children reach advanced puberty. The positive correlation of height overestimation with high self-esteem is an indicator that self-perception may influence psychosocial functioning.