ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Central precocious puberty (CPP) occurs as a result of early activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. CPP. In recent years, especially after the COVID pandemic, presentations with signs of precocious puberty and cases requiring treatment have increased all over the world. Recent studies have showed that CPP patients are more likely to have social and psychiatric problems than their peers of the same age and gender. The aimof our study is to examine the psychiatric symptoms and quality of life of the children newly diagnosed with CPP and cases under treatment more than one year and to compare these symptoms with age and gender-matched healthy children.

Method: The research was planned as a cross-sectional study and included 47 female and 3 male patients (n = 50) who were followed up for CPP. The control group (CG) consisted of healthy children matched with the case group in terms of age and gender (n = 25). The case group was divided into two groups; patients who were newly diagnosed and did not receive treatment yet and patients who had been receiving treatment for at least one year. Sociodemographic form, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-Child Version (RCADS-CV), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), TURGAY DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale (T-DSM-IV-S) were applied to the children and their families.

Results: 50 cases diagnosed with CPP with a mean age of 8.95±1.07 years (25 at diagnosis, 25 on follow-up) and 25 healthy children with a mean age of 8.79±1.02 years were enrolled the study. 94% of CPP group (PG) (n = 47) and 84% of control group (CG) (n = 21) were girls. When the child and parent forms have evaluated; there was no significant difference between three groups in terms of quality of life (child and parent forms), anxiety and depression scores, strengths and difficulties scores. Similar results were obtained between three groups in terms of inattention and hyperactivity scores, oppositional defiance and conduct disorder scores according to the scale.

Conclusion: Hormonal and physical changes do not result with significant psychiatric symptoms and changes in quality of life in children with CPP. Intervening to the hormone axis with treatment in a short time and not being exposed to the hormonal changes for a long period of time may have effect on these results. Long term prospective studies with a greater number of cases are also necessary to further evaluation.