Abstract
This paper examines the role of parents’ attitudes and preferences regarding growth hormone therapy for childhood short stature. Four main questions are addressed. First, what are the demographic characteristics of families seeking medical advice for their child’s short stature? Second, what are parents’ attitudes towards short stature? Third, what are parents’ treatment preferences (i.e. what characteristics of growth treatments are important to parents)? Finally, how do the attitudes of parents affect physician decision making? Several studies are reviewed and data are presented to answer these questions.
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1999
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