Transient growth deceleration in normal short children: a potential source of bias in growth studies

We have examined the records of 21 short children evaluated for growth hormone deficiency and found not to be deficient. Their growth velocity was evaluated for at least 6 months, both before and after testing. Without any specific therapeutic intervention, growth velocity was significantly higher a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of pediatrics 1988-08, Vol.147 (6), p.582-583
Main Authors: POLYCHRONAKOS, C, ABU-SRAIR, H, GUYDA, H. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Endocrinopathies
Female
Growth
Growth Disorders - blood
Growth Disorders - drug therapy
Growth Hormone - blood
Growth Hormone - deficiency
Growth Hormone - therapeutic use
Humans
Hypothalamus. Hypophysis. Epiphysis (diseases)
Male
Malignant tumors
Medical sciences
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Summary:We have examined the records of 21 short children evaluated for growth hormone deficiency and found not to be deficient. Their growth velocity was evaluated for at least 6 months, both before and after testing. Without any specific therapeutic intervention, growth velocity was significantly higher after testing, as compared with before. We attribute this apparent "therapeutic" effect of testing to a selection bias, due to the fact that, in normal clinical practice, children are selected for testing immediately following a period of slow growth, and that decelerations of growth are very often transient. Studies of growth-stimulating treatments using children as their own controls should, for this reason, be interpreted with caution.
ISSN:0340-6199
1432-1076
DOI:10.1007/BF00442467