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Puberty: Normal, Delayed, and Precocious

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Advanced Practice in Endocrinology Nursing

Abstract

Puberty is an important developmental stage for transition from childhood to adulthood. The process of puberty involves hormonal, physical, and psychological changes. Puberty is influenced by genetic and environmental aspects. The timing of puberty varies greatly between ethnicity, geography, and healthy individuals. Within the scope of puberty, it is considered precocious if the female is less than 8 years of age, and the male less than 9 years of age. Puberty is considered delayed if the female is 13 years of age and the male is 14 years of age with no pubertal development. Nurses’ understanding of normal puberty and its variants during this time is crucial for helping support children and their families. Whether that be support for when normal puberty occurs or if it’s occurring too early or too late. The diagnosis, treatment, and nursing implications of either precocious or delayed puberty will be discussed in this chapter.

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Abbreviations

BA:

Bone age

BMI:

Body mass index

CA:

Chronologic age

CAH:

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

CPP:

Central precocious puberty

DHEA:

Dehydroepiandrosterone

DHEA-S:

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate

FSH:

Follicle stimulating hormone

GnRH:

Gonadotropin releasing hormone

HH:

Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

HPG:

Hypothalamic pituitary gonad

HPO:

Hypothalamic pituitary ovarian

IGF-1:

Insulin-like growth factor 1

IM:

Intramuscular

IPP:

Incomplete precocious puberty

IU/L:

International units/L

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

MAS:

McCune Albright syndrome

mg:

Milligram

mL:

Milliliter

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

NHANES-III:

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

OCP:

Oral contraceptive pills

PA:

Premature adrenarche

PDS:

Pubertal Development Scale

PPP:

Peripheral precocious puberty

PROS:

Paediatric Research in Office Settings

PT:

Premature thelarche

PWS:

Prader-Willi syndrome

SC:

Subcutaneous

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alberta Children’s Hospital, Endocrine Clinic, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Eileen Pyra & Wendy Schwarz

Authors
  1. Eileen Pyra
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  2. Wendy Schwarz
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Correspondence to Wendy Schwarz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, UK

    Sofia Llahana

  2. Department of Oncology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    Cecilia Follin

  3. Northwest Pituitary Center Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA

    Christine Yedinak

  4. Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Ashley Grossman

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Pyra, E., Schwarz, W. (2019). Puberty: Normal, Delayed, and Precocious. In: Llahana, S., Follin, C., Yedinak, C., Grossman, A. (eds) Advanced Practice in Endocrinology Nursing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99817-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99817-6_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99817-6

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