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.