ABSTRACT
The efficacy of human growth hormone (GH) in promoting linear growth in children with GH deficiency (GHD) has been widely confirmed (Frasier, 1983; Guyda, Friesen, Bailey, Leboeuf, & Beck, 1975). Although in the early years of hGH therapy the long-term prognosis for height was unknown, the observed growth acceleration led most investigators, patients, and their families to anticipate normal final adult height (Grew, Stabler, Williams, & Underwood, 1983). Inherent in this prediction was the assumption that improved growth would facilitate normal psychosocial development. Reports of final adult heights of individuals treated with GH during childhood and adolescence are now appearing in the literature (Burns, Tanner, Preece, & Cameron, 1981; Joss, Tuppinger, Schwartz, & Poter, 1983), but the psychosocial status of these patients in adult life has not been studied. Four years ago, in delivering the Raben Memorial Lecture entitled “A Tale of Stature” at the 62nd annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, Henry G. Friesen (1980) noted, “It is unquestionable that growth velocity can be normalized in the majority of children, but it is not altogether clear what the ultimate psychological and social adaptation of these individuals is.” To pursue this question, we interviewed 116 growth hormone deficient (GHD) adults across Canada (aged 18-40 years) who had been treated for at least 2 years with growth hormone during childhood. Our objective was to determine their social status using education, employment, and marital status as outcome variables. The null hypothesis of our study was that the educational, employment, and marital status of the GHD adults was not different from that of the general population. Regional population data from Statistics Canada (1980, 1983) were available for comparison. Parents and siblings over 18 were used as environmental control subjects. This presentation is a summary of the results of that study (Dean, McTaggart, Fish, & Friesen, 1984).
