title: A Significant Increase in the Incidence of Central Precocious Puberty among Korean Girls from 2004 to 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have explored the trends in central precocious puberty (CPP) in Asian populations. This study assessed the prevalence and annual incidence of CPP among Korean children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using data from the Korean Health Insurance Review Agency from 2004 to 2010, we reviewed the records of 21,351 children, including those registered with a diagnosis of CPP for the first time and those diagnosed with CPP who were treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of CPP was 55.9 per 100,000 girls and 1.7 per 100,000 boys, respectively. The overall incidence of CPP was 15.3 per 100,000 girls, and 0.6 per 100,000 boys. The annual incidence of CPP in girls significantly increased from 3.3 to 50.4 per 100,000 girls; whereas in boys, it gradually increased from 0.3 to 1.2 per 100,000 boys. The annual incidence of CPP in girls consistently increased at all ages year by year, with greater increases at older ages (≥6 years of age), and smaller increases in girls aged < 6 years. In contrast, the annual incidence remained relatively constant in boys aged < 8 years, while a small increase was observed only in boys aged 8 years. The increase of annual incidence showed significant differences depending on age and gender (P <0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The annual incidence of CPP has substantially increased among Korean girls over the past 7 years. Continued monitoring of CPP trends among Korean children will be informative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Shin Hye
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Kium Pediatric Clinic, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sungho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Won
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Mattel Children's Hospital at University of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kuk-Wha
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone