Al-Abdulrazzaq Dalia, Al-Taiar Abdulla, Hassan Kholoud, Al-Twari Basma, Al-Osaimi Abdulaziz, Al-Busairi Iman
J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2016 Sep 1;29(9):1055-61. doi: 10.1515/jpem-2016-0098.
The aim of the study was to describe the referral pattern, baseline characteristics, and etiological profile of children referred with short stature in Kuwait.
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).
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).
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.
本研究的目的是描述科威特身材矮小儿童的转诊模式、基线特征和病因学概况。
这是一项对转诊至内分泌门诊的身材矮小儿童的横断面回顾性研究。身材矮小定义为身高或身长低于第3百分位数或<-2标准差评分（SDS）。
共转诊221名儿童，无性别差异（p=0.346）。这些儿童中近五分之一身材正常。中位（四分位间距）年龄为7.7（4.7，10.3）岁，平均身高SDS为-2.67（0.68）。最常见的诊断是生长正常变异、生长激素缺乏症（GHD）。
我们的研究强调需要改进转诊流程，以避免不必要的检查并减轻家长的焦虑。科威特身材矮小转诊中不存在性别偏见。该地区需要对身材矮小进行进一步研究。
