Short stature (SS) is defined as height more
than two standard deviations below the mean for age and gender. SS could be a
result of organic or non-organic causes. Organic causes include: endocrine
abnormalities, bone lesions, intrauterine growth retardation, chromosomal
abnormalities (Dawn syndrome, Russell-silver syndrome) or other causes.
Non-organic causes include: familial short stature, malnutrition,
constitutional delay of growth and adolescence.
Around 2% of all children present with SS.
Boys tend to come to medical attention more frequently than girls. However, the
percentage of girls with organic disease significantly exceeded that of boys.
Differences in height were more pronounced around the age of 9 years. Sex was
not associated with severity of short stature.
The research on children with SS shows mixed
results regarding psychosocial problems. With some studies suggesting that
psychosocial problems are related to SS while other studies do not find this
relationship.
No comments:
Post a Comment