Title
Guideline for referring short or tall children in preventive child health care
Author
Dommelen, P.V.
van Zoonen, R.
Vlasblom, E.
Wit, J.M.
Beltman, M.
Publication year
2020
Abstract
Aim To develop a guideline for preventive child healthcare professionals in order to improve early detection of pathological disorders associated with short stature (or growth faltering) or tall stature (or accelerated growth). Methods We updated the previous Dutch guideline for short stature in children aged 0‐9 years and extended it to adolescents (10‐17 years), and added a guideline for tall stature, based on literature and input from an expert committee. Specificities were calculated in a cohort of healthy Dutch children aged 0‐9 years (n = 970). We investigated the impact of a late onset of puberty on height standard deviation score based on the Dutch growth charts. Results Growth parameters of the guideline include height, the distance between height and target height and change of height over time. Other parameters include diagnostic clues from medical history and physical examination, for example behavioural problems, precocious or delayed puberty, body disproportion and dysmorphic features. Conclusion Preventive child healthcare professionals now have an updated guideline for referring short or tall children to specialist care. Further research is needed on the diagnostic yield after referral and specificity at field level.
Subject
Children
Prevention
Growth
Guideline
Height
Monitoring
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http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:081d6c8d-4c41-4d0c-8c59-0f8a770497e2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15625
TNO identifier
882225
Source
Acta Paediatrica, Epub 29 Oct
Document type
article