Short stature in Indian children: Experience from a community level hospital

Abstract

Objective To study prevalence and aetiological profile of short stature in children attending outpatients department (OPD) of a community level hospital. Method Six hundred and twenty five consecutive children (>2 and <16 years) attending OPD of a community level hospital, catering mostly to rural and lower socioeconomic strata of society, were screened for short stature using NCHS charts of mean and standard deviations. A diagnosis of familial short stature was made after allowing for mid-parental stature. Prepubescent children were classified as short stature using percentile charts (<5th centile being taken as short stature) for affluent Indian children. All children were followed up for 6-12 months to establish growth velocity. To allow for onset of puberty and stage, Tanners chart for early (+ 2SD) and late (-2SD) maturers was considered.