The Effects of Growth Hormone Therapy on the Quality of Life, Depression and Self-esteem

성장호르몬요법이 삶의 질, 우울, 자아존중감에 미치는 영향

Purpose: The study was attempted to provide basic materials for development of nursing-intervention programs by examining effects of growth hormone therapy on the quality of life, depression and self-esteem. Method: A survey was conducted for 31 adult outpatients as experimental group who have received growth hormone therapy more than 6 months and for 29 adults as control group who have not. A scale developed by Hilditch was used to measure their quality of life and also, the Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale and the Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale were adopted to measure their depression and self-esteem each. Data were analyzed using one-way and two-way ANOVA Result: 1) there were differences between the two groups in the overall measurement of the quality of life. the growth hormone therapy group was higher in sub-factors 2) There were clear-cut differences between the two groups in depression, so that the control group marked higher score in the measurement of depression. 3) Self-esteem was not identical across the two groups, so that it was more higher for the growth hormone treatment group. Conclusion: Those findings suggest that development of education programs related to growth hormone and nursing-intervention is promising.