Pubertal Development Measurement in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparison Between Physical Exam, Parent- and Self-Report.
Blythe A Corbett, Rachael A Muscatello, Yasas Tanguturi and 2 others
PMID 31448383WHAT IT FOUND
Parent and child reports of puberty in children with and without autism spectrum disorder did not match physical exam well enough for precise staging.
Parents were somewhat better than children, especially for pubic hair, but still not reliable.
Key findings
01Self-report using Tanner drawings agreed poorly with the physical exam for girls' breast stage (κ = -.06, 22.6% accuracy) and only slightly for boys' genital stage (κ = .17, 39.9% accuracy).
02Parent report using the Pubertal Development Scale agreed fair for girls' breast stage (κ = .34, 52.7% accuracy) and slight for boys' genital stage (κ = .21, 53.8% accuracy).
03Parents of typically developing children matched the physical exam more closely than parents of children with ASD for boys' pubic stage, with accuracy of 72.1% and 57.1% respectively.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The physical exam used visual inspection only and did not include breast palpation or testis measurement, which are part of full clinical Tanner assessment. The sample was limited to children with IQ 70 or higher and enough language, so it does not cover children with autism and intellectual disability. Most participants were in early pubertal stages, with only three at stage 5 by exam, so results may not apply to later puberty. The physical exam was optional, and 184 of 200 participants completed it; those who did not include participants who refused, did not return, were ineligible, or had scheduling conflicts. The study did not compare parent and child report using the same questionnaire, so it cannot tell which informant is better for identical items. It is unclear whether drawings or written questions are better for people with autism.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The supplied text does not state who funded the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the parent-report results as evidence that a questionnaire can replace a physical exam for precise pubertal staging. The agreement was only slight to moderate, and the study did not compare parent and self reports using the same questionnaire.