title: Referral pattern of children with short stature to a pediatric endocrine clinic in Kuwait.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to describe the referral pattern, baseline characteristics, and etiological profile of children referred with short stature in Kuwait.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional retrospective review of children referred to the Endocrine Clinic with short stature. Short stature was defined as height or length below the 3rd centile or <-2 standard deviation score (SDS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 221 children were referred with no gender difference (p=0.346). Almost one fifth of these children had normal stature. Median (interquartile) age was 7.7 (4.7, 10.3) years and mean height SDS was -2.67 (0.68). The most common diagnoses were normal variants of growth, growth hormone deficiency (GHD).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study highlights the need to improve the referral process in order to avoid unnecessary investigations and alleviate parental anxiety. There is no gender bias in short stature referrals in Kuwait. There is a need of further investigation of short stature in the region.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Al-Abdulrazzaq
authors.forename: Abdulla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Taiar
authors.forename: Kholoud
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Basma
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Twari
authors.forename: Abdulaziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Osaimi
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Al-Busairi
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies