Pubertal development in Caracas upper-middle-class boys and girls in a longitudinal context

Changes between pubertal stages (PS) are best analyzed in a longitudinal co ntext. A sample of 67 boys and 48 girls from the Caracas Longitudinal Study who presented data for the full range of pubertal development: genitalia ( G2-G5), breast (B2-B5), pubic hair (PH2-PH5), axillary hair (AH2-AH3), and age at menarche (AM) during follow-up, were assessed at clinical examinatio n. Medians and standard errors for ages at each stage were estimated with t he legit method. For length of intervals between stages of genitalia, breas t, pubic hair and axillary hair, intervals B2-M and PH2-M, survival analysi s was used according to life tables and Cox regression analysis. In boys, G 2 occurred at 11.61 years; in girls, B2 occurred at 10.35 years and AM at 1 2.55 years of age. In both sexes, length of the intervals PS 2-3 and 3-4 we re approximately 1 year, while PS 4-5 was 1.5 years. Duration of puberty re ached 3.7 years in boys (G2-G5) and 3.3 years in girls (B2-B5); correspondi ng intervals for PH2-PH5 were 3.1 and 3.0 years in boys and girls, respecti vely. B2-AM was 1.8 years (with a range of 0.3-3.6 years) and PH2-AM was 1. 5 years (with a range 0.3-3.5 years). These results are useful for screenin g and monitoring: identifying abnormal pubertal patterns in subjects who ar e advanced or delayed with respect to their peers, together with other pube rtal events such as age at peak height and weight velocity and skeletal age . (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.