Hui L L, Lam H S, Leung G M, Schooling C M
School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Am J Hum Biol. 2017 Jul 8;29(4). doi: 10.1002/ajhb.22963. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Preterm birth is associated with altered pubertal timing, but the effect on pubertal duration has rarely been assessed. Here, we tested the hypothesis that preterm birth is associated with shorter duration of puberty among girls in Hong Kong where preterm birth has little social patterning.
In the population-representative Chinese birth cohort "Children of 1997", we used multivariable linear regression to assess the association of preterm status (≤36 completed gestational weeks, n = 170; term birth 37-42 gestational weeks, n = 3476) with duration of puberty, adjusted for parent's highest education, mother's place of birth, maternal smoking during pregnancy, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and mother's age of menarche.
The mean duration from thelarche to menarche was 2.53 years. Preterm girls had a shorter duration from thelarche to menarche by 2.6 months, 95% confidence interval 0.5-4.7 months. Age of menarche did not differ by preterm status but preterm girls had later thelarche. Preterm birth was not associated with a shorter duration from pubarche to menarche.
Preterm births may be associated with shorter duration of puberty from thelarche to menarche, possibly through effects of in utero estrogen exposure, the drivers of thelarche, or the drivers of pubertal duration/progression, with potential implications for subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease and hormonal cancers.
早产与青春期发育时间改变有关，但对青春期持续时间的影响很少被评估。在此，我们检验了这样一个假设：在早产几乎没有社会模式差异的香港，早产与女孩青春期持续时间较短有关。
在具有人群代表性的中国出生队列“1997年出生的儿童”中，我们使用多变量线性回归来评估早产状态（≤36个完整孕周，n = 170；足月产37 - 42孕周，n = 3476）与青春期持续时间之间的关联，并对父母的最高教育程度、母亲的出生地、孕期母亲吸烟、妊娠期糖尿病、先兆子痫以及母亲初潮年龄进行了调整。
从乳房发育到初潮的平均持续时间为2.53年。早产女孩从乳房发育到初潮的持续时间短2.6个月，95%置信区间为0.5 - 4.7个月。初潮年龄在早产状态之间没有差异，但早产女孩乳房发育较晚。早产与从阴毛发育到初潮的持续时间较短无关。
早产可能与从乳房发育到初潮的青春期持续时间较短有关，可能是通过子宫内雌激素暴露、乳房发育的驱动因素或青春期持续时间/进展的驱动因素产生影响，这对随后患心血管疾病和激素相关癌症的风险可能有潜在影响。
