Accuracy of Self-assessed Tanner Staging Against Hormonal Assessment of Sexual Maturation in Overweight African-American Children

Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of self-reported Tanner (SRT) staging against a proxy method of physician's assessment of sexual maturation, using pubertal hormones in overweight African-American (AA) children. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 196 children (113 girls, 83 boys) aged 9-11 years, who were 'overweight' (>85(th) and <95(th) percentile for age- and gender-matched BMI; n = 43) or 'obese' (>= 95(th) percentile; n = 153) were used. Children assessed their breast or genital and pubic hair development using standardized Tanner drawings representing different stages of sexual maturity. SRT data were compared to pubertal stage assessed by measuring fasting serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) in boys, and LH and estradiol (E-2) in girls, which were used to stage children into pubertal stages 1-5. Results: SRT stages of genital and pubic hair assessments in boys, and breast and pubic hair assessments in girls, yielded 15-20% concordance (kappa statistic = 0.02-0.12) compared to their hormone-derived pubertal stages. Conclusions: Among overweight AA 9-11 year-old children, self-assessment of Tanner staging did not accurately assess their pubertal development when compared to a hormone-derived pubertal assessment method.