A comparison of self-reported puberty using the Pubertal Development Scale and the Sexual Maturation Scale in a
Lyndal Bond1, Jackie Clements, Nadine Bertalli
1Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, 2 Gatehouse Street, Parkville 3052 VIC, Australia. lyndal.bond@rch.org.au
Purpose:
To examine concordance between two self-reported measures of puberty: Sexual Maturation Scale (SMS) and Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and their acceptability to adolescents.
Methods:
Participants of a school-based study in grades 5, 7 and 9 were classified into one of 5 pubertal stages using each method.
Results:
2864 students (age 9-16 years) participated. Agreement was moderate for males (kappa 0.42, 95% CI 0.39, 0.45) and females (kappa 0.57, 95% CI 0.53, 0.61). Concordance within one stage was excellent (females 97%, males 89%), with discrepancies due to females being classified one stage later on the PDS (26%) and males one stage earlier (32%). There were more missing data for the SMS (13%) than the PDS (4%).
Conclusions:
Given the level of concordance and difficulties of using the drawings in a school-based survey, we would recommend the PDS as an alternative to assess pubertal status in epidemiological studies.
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