Purpose

PRESTO 3 evaluated nurses’ preference for the Somatuline® Autogel® syringe versus the Lanreotide Pharmathen syringe after injection-pad testing.

Methods

This international simulated-use study included oncology/endocrinology nurses with ≥ 1 years’ experience in managing neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and/or acromegaly. Each nurse tested both syringes twice in a randomised order before completing an electronic survey. The primary objective was to assess overall preference (%, 95% confidence interval [CI]) for the Somatuline Autogel syringe versus the Lanreotide Pharmathen syringe. Secondary objectives included rating syringe performance and ranking the importance of syringe attributes.

Results

Ninety-four nurses were enrolled: mean age, 41.0 (SD, 11.5) years. The percentage of nurses stating a preference (“strong” or “slight”) for the Somatuline Autogel syringe (86.2% [95% CI 77.5–92.4%]) was significantly higher than 50% (p < 0.0001). Performance rating was significantly higher for the Somatuline Autogel syringe versus Lanreotide Pharmathen syringe for 10 of the 11 attributes tested (p < 0.05). The syringe attributes considered most important when injecting patients in routine clinical practice were “easy to use from preparation to injection” (30.9%) and “comfortable to handle during use from preparation to injection” (16.0%). The attribute most commonly rated as least important was “fast administration from preparation to injection” (26.6%).

Conclusion

Nurses strongly preferred the user experience of the Somatuline Autogel syringe over the Lanreotide Pharmathen syringe. “Ease of use” and “comfortable to handle” were the most important syringe attributes, and performance rating was significantly higher with Somatuline Autogel versus Lanreotide Pharmathen syringe for all but one attribute.

Graphical abstract