Final height in psychosocial short stature: is there complete catch-up?
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether children with psychosocial short stature attain their genetic height potential.


METHODS
We report on 18 children (10 girls, 8 boys) diagnosed by a multidisciplinary team as having psychosocial short stature. All the children had had some kind of change in their environment (9 were separated from their families), and increased their mean height velocity standard deviation score (SDS) from -0.7 (1.3) to +3.6 (4.8) (p < 0.005) as well as their height SDS from -3.0 (0.3) to -2.6 (0.9) in the first year after the change. All the patients were postpubertal and had reached their near final height (mean age, 20.0 y; range, 16.0-23.3).


RESULTS
Only 3 out of 18 had a greater final height than the mid-parental target height, 14 out of 18 had a near final height within the mid-parental target range (95% tolerance limits of the mid-parental height (+/- 2 SD = +/- 10 cm). Nevertheless, mean final height expressed in height SDS for the whole group was significantly shorter with -2.4 SDS compared with the mean of the mid-parental target height of -1.5 SDS (p < 0.001). Surprisingly, initial catch-up growth did not correlate with final height attainment.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients will attain a stature within the range of mid-parental target height, although towards the lower limit of this range.
Gohlke
B C
BC
Department of Paediatrics, University of Bonn, Germany.
Stanhope
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011584:Psychology; D011628:Puberty, Delayed / Q000209:etiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*
D019382:Human Growth Hormone