OBJECTIVES: Healthcare and indirect costs have been shown to be higher in hypopituitary adults with untreated growth hormone deficiency (GHD) than in the general population. The present study assessed the effect of growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy, in terms of quality of life (QoL) and use of healthcare resources, in GH-deficient patients included in KIMS (Pharmacia & Upjohn International Metabolic Database), which is a pharmacoepidemiological survey of adult patients with GHD. METHODS: The number of visits to the doctor, number of days in hospital, amount of sick-leave, physical activity during leisure time and assistance required with normal daily activities were recorded at entry into KIMS and after 12 months of GH replacement. RESULTS: Data were available from 2260 patients at baseline and from 1019 patients at 12 months. For the total group, there were significant (p <0.001) decreases over 12 months in mean number of visits to the doctor (from 2.7 to 1.6) and mean number of days of sick-leave (from 6.5 to 3.5) The mean number of hospital days decreased from 0.92 to 0.59 (p <0.12). Patients also reported significantly (p <0.001) increased leisure-time physical activity. Naïve patients (not previously treated with GH) reported significantly (p <0.001) greater improvements in physical activity over 12 months than non-naïve patients. Naïve patients needed significantly more assistance with normal daily activities than non-naïve patients at baseline (22% vs 15%; p <0.001), but not after 12 months (16% vs 14%). Significantly (p <0.001) more women required assistance in daily activities than men, both at baseline (28% vs 10%) and after 12 months (23% vs 7%). CONCLUSIONS: GH replacement significantly reduces the use of healthcare resources and improves QoL in adults with GHD. POSTER PRESENTATIONS