ESPE Abstracts

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) may affect quality of life (QOL) due to premature body and psychological changes that characterize this pathology. Few data are available on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and social, emotive and behavioral competences in CPP children treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa). This study aimed to investigate these aspects in a group of CPP girls during therapy.

Methods: Fifty-four CPP girls were evaluated during GnRHa treatment. HRQOL was analysed through the administration of questionnaires both to parents and patients: Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 Generic Core Scale (PedsQL) and 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Social, emotive and behavioral competences were evaluated with Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 6-18), administered to parents. Pubertal signs, auxological data, bone age and uterine length were collected to estimate the treatment’s efficacy at the beginning, after first and second year, and at the end of the therapy.

Results: The results of both patients’ questionnaires and parents’ questionnaires were no significative different from the scores of general population. In CBCL, the lowest scores appeared in somatic complaints (pathologic in 34,6% of patients) and internalizing problems (pathologic in 21,2% of patients). Moreover, PedsQL showed low scores in emotive functioning of CPP patients.

Conclusions: HRQOL and social, emotive and behavioral competences of CPP patients treated with GnRHa are not lower than general population. This may be caused by the improvement in the management of CPP patients from the appearance of pubertal signs.