Comparison of methods for final height assessment in adolescents with a normal variant short stature

Introduction: patients with low stature normal variant growth have peculiar evolutionary patterns making it difficult to precisely define when final stature will be reached, since prediction methods are based on parameters of difficult quantification, such as bone age. Objective: To assess the agreement between two methods for prediction of final height based on family target range regarding the final height reached by adolescents with a diagnosis of normal variant short stature. Methods: Thirty-three subjects were evaluated using height of parents for the calculation of family target range and Bayley-Pinneau and Tanner-Whitehouse methods for prediction of final height. Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to correlate final height with the mean of the family target range, and the St. Laurent concordance coefficient was used to assess concordance between final stature and predictive methods. Results: 87.9% (29/33) subjects kept short stature at the end of growth and 90.9% (30/33) had a final height within family target range. A very strong positive correlation (Cs = 0.77; p < 0.01) was observed between parental mean and final height. Bayley-Pinneau method showed a 0.47 concordance coefficient with final height (95% CI: 0.34; 0.57), and Tanner-Whitehouse 3 method showed a concordance coefficient of 0.58 (95% CI: 0.41; 0.75). Conclusion: The strong positive correlation observed demonstrates the significant influence of parental height on final height. Neither method showed good concordance when used as a predictor of final height, with height values being overestimated.