Increased incidence of precocious and accelerated puberty in females during and after the Italian lockdown for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Table 1 Clinical data and laboratory results in the patients of group 1 and controls

Variable	Group 1	Previous 5 years^a	P
Population number	37	89	–
Chronological age at B2 (as referred by parents or family pediatrician)	6.86 ± 0.61	7.22 ± 0.48	p < 0.005
Chronological age at diagnosis (yr)	7.11 ± 0.72	7.53 ± 0.50	p < 0.0005
Time from B2 to diagnosis (months)	3.1 ± 0.9	3.0 ± 0.8	P = NS
Height, SDS	0.84 ± 1.32	0.79 ± 1.44	P = NS
BMI, SDS	0.83 ± 0.91	0.68 ± 0.88	P = NS
Tanner stage at diagnosis (percentage)
II	43.8	55.5
III	53,1	38.8	p < 0.05
IV	3.1	5.4
V	–	–
Bone age (yr)	9.40 ± 1.10	9.60 ± 1.20	p = NS
Bone age minus chronological age (yr)	2.29 ± 0.38	2.07 ± 0.70	P = NS
Basal LH, IU/L	1.2 ± 0.7	0.8 ± 0.6	p < 0.005
Basal FHS, IU/L	1.9 ± 1.7	2.2 ± 1.3	p = NS
Peak LH at GnRH stimulation, IU/L	11.9 ± 4.2	9.4 ± 4.0	p < 0.005
Basal estradiol (females only), pmol/L	129.9 ± 18.7	117.6 ± 19.2	p < 0.005
Uterine length, cm	4.42 ± 0.43	3.99 ± 0.47	p < 0.0005
Ovarian volume, cm³	3.32 ± 0.42	2.83 ± 0.46	p < 0.0005
Electronic device use (h)	3.9 ± 1.5	–	–

^a= mean/yr. BA bone age, CA chronological age, SDS standard deviation score, BMI body mass index, LH luteinizing hormone, FSH follicle-stimulating hormone, GnRH gonadotropin releasing hormone test

ISSN: 1824-7288