IMPE Abstracts

Introduction: Puberty is a complex biological phenomenon where secondary sexual characteristics develop, complete sexual maturation and adult size is reached. Central precocious puberty (CPP) in girls is defined as the progressive appearance of sexual characteristics before 8 years old, with advanced bone age and acceleration of growth velocity, due to pituitary gonadal axis activation. Multiple studies have shown an increased incidence of CPP and a faster rate of pubertal progression during and after COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to determine if there was a significant increase in CPP cases during the pandemic period in a tertiary hospital compared to previous years and to describe the clinical characteristics of these patients.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Girls diagnosed with CPP at the Endocrinology service of a Pediatric Hospital were included, from March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2020 (pre-pandemic); and from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2022 (pandemic). Anthropometric data, Tanner stage, history of small gestational age, family history of CPP, bone age, estradiol levels, uterine length and sellar MRI were compared.

Results: The prevalence of patients diagnosed with CPP in the pre-pandemic period was 4.42%, while the prevalence in the pandemic period was 9.74%, being this difference statistically significant (P=0.04 - OR 2.3 - IC 1,1-4,9). There was a higher number of patients with overweight/obesity in the pandemic period (P=0.03 - OR 5.5 - IC 1.1-26.4). There were no statistically significant differences regarding other analyzed variables between both groups.

Conclusion: Our results show an increased prevalence of diagnosed CPP during and after COVID-19 pandemic in comparison with previous years. The rate of overweight/obesity was higher in the pandemic period. Being a retrospective study, we could not assess the influence of sleep disorders, stress or exposure to screens on the increase of CPP prevalence.