A comparison of published criteria for assuming attainment of adult height in girls who have received growth hormone treatment.

UNLABELLED At least six different criteria to assume attainment of adult height in girls who have received growth hormone (GH) treatment have been published in the literature. The aim of this study was to assess whether, if applied to the same population, different criteria for assuming adult height would produce the same outcome. METHODS Data on Australian and New Zealand girls receiving growth hormone (GH) treatment were accessed from the nationwide OZGROW database. Girls were included in the analysis if standing height measurements were available up until the time point when bone age (BA) > or =15 yr and height velocity (HV) < or = 1 cm/yr (n = 684). Participants' height measurements were extracted from the database at the first time point that would be considered to meet the requirements of each criterion. RESULTS ANOVA found no statistically significant differences between the value for girls' adult height assumed when using the various criteria. However, as expected, the greatest (and, thus, most accurate) estimate for adult height was obtained using the most stringent criterion, BA >15 yr and HV <1 cm/yr. The values assumed using the other adult height criteria underestimated this height value by an average of 2.4 cm. CONCLUSION Statistically similar values for adult height in girls who have received GH treatment are obtained using any of the published criteria for assuming adult height that were evaluated. However, in cases where girls who have received GH treatment cannot be followed until the time point when BA > or =15 yr and HV < or = 1 cm/yr, it has to be acknowledged that the assumed adult height is likely to be less than the girl's actual adult height.