Increased incidence of precocious and accelerated puberty in females during and after the Italian lockdown for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

The timing of puberty in girls is occurring at an increasingly early age. While a positive family history is recognised as a predisposing factor for early or precocious puberty, the role of environmental factors is not fully understood. To make a retrospective evaluation of the incidence of newly di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Italian journal of pediatrics 2020-11, Vol.46 (1), p.165-10, Article 165
Main Authors:	Stagi, Stefano, De Masi, Salvatore, Bencini, Erica, Losi, Stefania, Paci, Silvia, Parpagnoli, Maria, Ricci, Franco, Ciofi, Daniele, Azzari, Chiara
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Accelerated puberty Age Betacoronavirus Body Mass Index Child Children & youth Computer & video games Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology Coronaviruses COVID-19 Diagnosis Electronic equipment Environmental factors Families & family life Family medical history Female Humans Incidence Italy - epidemiology Luteinizing hormone Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone Medical records Pandemics Patients Pediatrics Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology Precocious puberty Puberty Puberty, Precocious - diagnosis Puberty, Precocious - epidemiology Retrospective Studies SARS-CoV-2 Social Isolation Standard deviation Trends Ultrasonic imaging Uterus
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Summary:	The timing of puberty in girls is occurring at an increasingly early age. While a positive family history is recognised as a predisposing factor for early or precocious puberty, the role of environmental factors is not fully understood. To make a retrospective evaluation of the incidence of newly diagnosed central precocious puberty (CPP) and the rate of pubertal progression in previously diagnosed patients during and after the Italian lockdown for COVID-19, comparing data with corresponding data from the previous 5 years. To determine whether body mass index (BMI) and the use of electronic devices increased during lockdown in these patients. The study included 49 females with CPP. We divided the patients into two groups: group 1, patients presenting a newly diagnosed CPP and group 2, patients with previously diagnosed slow progression CPP whose pubertal progression accelerated during or after lockdown. We collected auxological, clinical, endocrinological and radiological data which were compared with data from two corresponding control groups (patients followed by our Unit, March to July 2015-2019). Patients' families completed a questionnaire to assess differences in the use of electronic devices before and during lockdown. Thirty-seven patients presented newly diagnosed CPP (group 1) and 12, with previously diagnosed but untreated slow progression CPP presented an acceleration in the rate of pubertal progression (group 2). The number of new CPP diagnoses was significantly higher than the mean for the same period of the previous 5 years (p
ISSN:	1824-7288 1720-8424 1824-7288