Post-treatment Follow-up of Growth Hormone Deficient Patients: Psychosocial Status

Human growth hormone has been used for over 25 years in the treatment of growth hormone (GH) deficiency. During this time significant knowledge has been gained about the somatic effects of GH in individuals with short stature. In addition, data on the IQ and cognitive abilities (Abbott, Rotnem, Genel, & Cohen, 1982; Clopper et al., 1977; Meyer-Bahlburg, Feinman, MacGillivray, & Aceto, 1978; Pollitt & Money, 1964; Rosenbloom, Smith, & Loeb, 1966), academic achievement (Holmes, Hayford, & Thompson, 1982; Pollitt & Money, 1964; Rosenbloom et ah, 1966), personality characteristics (Drotar, Owens, & Gotthold, 1980; Rotnem, Genel, Hintz, & Cohen, 1977), psychosocial function (Dorner & Elton, 1973; Ehrhardt & Meyer-Bahlburg, 1975; Meyer-Bahlburg, 1985; Weiss, 1977), and psychosexual status (Clopper, Adelson, & Money, 1976; Meyer-Bahlburg & Aceto, 1976; Money, Clopper, & Menefee, 1980) of GH deficient individuals have accumulated on patients during or just completing their GH treatment. Data on their long-term, posttreatment functioning are just now becoming available. This report presents the first behavioral data from a recent follow-up study of the original cohort of hypopituitary patients who were treated with human growth hormone (GH) 1 at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo. Our question was, “How are these individuals functioning now after completing GH therapy?’’ Past studies of the behavioral effects of GH treatment have been hindered by small sample size, the clinical heterogeneity of the study groups, and the lack of uniform behavioral measures (Mazur & Clopper, in press). In addition to the large number of participants, this study differs from previous ones in that the dose of GH was standardized throughout for each patient, and the study groups were more homogeneous with respect to their endocrine status.