Prevalence of rapidly progressive central precocious puberty rose during COVID-19
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Key takeaways:
- A higher percentage of girls were diagnosed with rapidly progressive central precocious puberty during COVID-19 compared with pre-pandemic.
- Decreased physical activity may have contributed to the increase.
The proportion of girls diagnosed with rapidly progressive central precocious puberty increased after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the pandemic, according to a study conducted in Italy.
“Our study confirms the rise in precocious puberty diagnoses during COVID-19 and identifies contributing factors, such as poor eating and exercise habits, too much screen time and impaired sleep,” Mohamad Maghnie, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics and director of the pediatric residency program at the University of Genoa and head of the pediatric clinic, clinical service in pediatric endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at IRCCS Giannina Gaslini Institute in Italy, said in a press release. “We found an increase in weight gain among girls diagnosed with precocious puberty during the pandemic and rapid increase in body weight is associated with advanced pubertal development.”
Maghnie and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of 289 girls with breast development before age 8 years who were referred to the Giannina Gaslini Institute for suspected precocious puberty from January 2016 to June 2021. Girls who were diagnosed with idiopathic central precocious puberty and were classified as having rapidly progressive central precocious puberty or who showed signs of pubertal progression at a follow-up visit were included. Girls diagnosed from January 2016 to February 2020 were put into a pre-pandemic group, and those diagnosed from March 2020 to June 2021 were classified as having been diagnosed during the pandemic. Age at thelarche, family history for precocious puberty, ethnicity, physical activity level, COVID-19 infection history, changes in eating habits and screen viewing time, and anthropometric, clinical and radiological data were collected.
The findings were published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.
There were 175 girls diagnosed with central precocious puberty before the pandemic and 114 diagnosed during the pandemic. Rapidly progressive central precocious puberty was diagnosed among 72 girls in the pre-pandemic group and 61 during the pandemic. Rapidly progressive central precocious puberty was diagnosed in a higher proportion of girls during COVID-19 compared with before the pandemic (53.5% vs. 41.1%; P < .05). The increase in diagnoses was observed in all age groups younger than 8 years.
There was no difference in mean age at pubertal onset. The mean time between pubertal onset and rapidly progressive central precocious puberty diagnosis was shorter during COVID-19 compared with pre-pandemic (0.71 years vs. 0.93 years; P < .05). No differences were observed in anthropometric or radiological parameters, and sex hormones were similar between the two groups. HDL cholesterol was higher among girls diagnosed during the pandemic compared with pre-pandemic (61.56 mg/dL vs. 54.91 mg/dL; P = .03).
Girls diagnosed during the pandemic reported 1.946 hours of screen time per day and 88.5% of the group stopped performing the physical activity they had done before the pandemic. No changes in eating habits were reported.
“The role of stress, social isolation, increased conflicts between parents, economic status and the increased use of hand and surface sanitizers represent potentially further interesting hypotheses as to why early puberty is increasing in youth,” Maghnie said in a press release. “Although, the consequence of biological adaptation cannot be entirely ruled out.”
Reference:
- More girls started puberty early during the COVID-19 pandemic. Available at: https://www.newswise.com/faseb/more-girls-started-puberty-early-during-the-covid-19-pandemic. Published Aug. 3, 2023. Accessed Aug. 3, 2023.
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