Etiology of Increased Referrals for Evaluation of Early Puberty in a Tertiary Care Center in Turkey: True Precocious Puberty, Obesity, or Parental Anxiety and Lack of Knowledge?

Early puberty paradox: an investigation of anxiety levels of mothers and children, children's quality of life, and psychiatric diagnoses

Early puberty signs lead to an increase in anxiety levels of parents and children. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life and anxiety levels of girls and their mothers who were admitted to a pediatric endocrinology clinic with concerns about early puberty. Girls and their mothers who were admitted to endocrinology outpatient clinic with concerns about early puberty were compared to healthy control group. Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) parent form, Quality of Life for Children Scale (PedsQL) parent form, and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to the mothers. Children were evaluated with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (Kiddie-SADS Lifetime Version) (K-SADS-PL). The study sample consisted of 92 girls and 62 of them were administered to clinic with concerns about early puberty. There were 30 girls in early puberty group (group 1), 32 girls were in the normal development group (group 2), and 30 were in the healthy control group (group 3). The anxiety level of group 1 and group 2 was significantly higher, and their quality of life was significantly lower when compared to group 3 (p < 0.001). Mother's anxiety level was found significantly higher in group 2 (p < 0.001). It has shown that anxiety level and quality of life of children were associated with anxiety level of mothers and the current Tanner stage (r = 0.302, p < 0.005).    Conclusion: Mothers and children who have concerns about early puberty are negatively affected when early puberty is a possibility. For this reason, educating parents will prevent negative impacts of this situation on children. At the same time, it will decrease health burden. What is Known? • Early adolescence is one of the most common reasons for admission to pediatric endocrinology outpatient clinics. It is known that increasing early adolescence anxiety in the society causes cost and time losses in the field of health. However, studies investigating the reasons for this result are limited in the literature. What's New? • The level of anxiety increased significantly in girls with suspected precocious puberty and their mothers, and their quality of life was affected. • For this reason, we would like to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approaches before psychiatric disorders occur in children with suspected precocious puberty and their parents.

Early and precocious puberty during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly became a severe health emergency worldwide. In order to contrast the spread of the novel SARS-CoV-2, many countries implemented extraordinary restrictive measures, such as a strict lockdown and school closures. The pandemic had a great impact on children and adolescents' daily life, leading to a much more sedentary lifestyle, to larger use of electronic devices and to an increase in stress-related symptoms. These conspicuous changes acted as disruptors of children's normal development. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many studies reported an increase in the number of precocious puberty cases as well as a faster progression rate of puberty itself, if compared to the pre-pandemic years. In this review, our aim was to evaluate the incidence of new cases of early and precocious puberty during the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing variations in the timing of puberty and in pubertal progression rate, and to investigate the role of environmental and lifestyle factors during the pandemic in modulating the physiopathology of pubertal development. While a direct effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection remains, at the moment, a remote hypothesis, both physical and psychological factors related to the pandemic seem to have a role in triggering GnRH pulsatile secretion leading to earlier pubertal onset. It is indeed important to stress the need to clarify the exact role of COVID-19 in early pubertal onset comparing data from all over the world; long-term comprehensive studies are also pivotal to explain whether this phenomenon will continue while we resume pre-pandemic habits.

An Approach to the Evaluation and Management of the Obese Child With Early Puberty

With the declining age at onset of puberty and increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, early breast development in young obese girls has become a more frequent occurrence. Here, we examine available literature to answer a series of questions regarding how obesity impacts the evaluation and management of precocious puberty. We focus on girls as the literature is more robust, but include boys where literature permits. Suggestions include: (1) Age cutoffs for evaluation of precocious puberty should not differ substantially from those used for nonobese children. Obese girls with confirmed thelarche should be evaluated for gonadotropin-dependent, central precocious puberty (CPP) to determine if further investigation or treatment is warranted. (2) Basal luteinizing hormone (LH) levels remain a recommended first-line test. However, if stimulation testing is utilized, there is a theoretical possibility that the lower peak LH responses seen in obesity could lead to a false negative result. (3) Advanced bone age (BA) is common among obese girls even without early puberty; hence its diagnostic utility is limited. (4) Obesity does not eliminate the need for magnetic resonance imaging in girls with true CPP. Age and clinical features should determine who warrants neuroimaging. (5) BA can be used to predict adult height in obese girls with CPP to inform counseling around treatment. (6) Use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa) leads to increased adult height in obese girls. (7) Obesity should not limit GnRHa use as these agents do not worsen weight status in obese girls with CPP.

Can Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP) Be Used as A Diagnostic Tool for Precocious Puberty?

OBJECTIVES

Voice is the one of the sexual maturation characteristics that differs between boys and girls. Voice analysis is a non-invasive diagnostic tool and well-tolerated by children. Our aim is to investigate the capability of MDVP to predict precocious puberty (PP). To our knowledge, this is the only study to assess the voice parameters in the diagnosis of PP.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The data of PP and control group were retrospectively reviewed. Voice parameters including fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), age, and gender of subjects were noted. ROC curve was performed to the statistically significant parameters after double group comparisons and cut-off values were defined. 2 × 2 table were created and compared between the groups.

RESULTS

A total of 54 children comprising 32 subjects (8 boys and 24 girls) in the PP group and 22 (10 boys and 12 girls) in the control group were included, and the mean age of girls were 8.17 and 7.92 years, and those of the boys were 8.83 and 7.90, respectively. Jitter and HNR values were statistically significant in the girls but not in boys between the 2 groups (P = 0.013, P = 0.032, respectively). The cut-off points were 1.31 for jitter, 6.39 for HNR. Univariate analysis according to cut-off values of jitter and HNR revealed a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (P = 0.004, OR: 8.80 [1.26- 61,15] and P = 0.012, OR: 5.00 [1.27-19.68], respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that, along with an evaluation of other secondary sexual maturation characteristics, voice analysis may be used by pediatric endocrinologists and otolaryngologists to diagnose PP in girls but not in boys.