Methods for estimating biological maturation in developing and growing athletes: A literature review

Abstract

The indicators related to biological maturation have been studied for decades. The changes produced by maturation have a significant effect on the performance of young athletes. The aim of this literature review was to analyze the most commonly used methods of estimating biological maturation in sports science. Four main methods were identified that address different indicators of biological maturation: radiographic methods, which estimate biological age through bone development; anthropometric methods, which estimate the rate of biological maturation through changes in growth velocity and proportionality; sexual maturation methods, based on the manifestation of male and female sexual characteristics; and dental maturation methods, which estimate biological age through tooth development. The "gold standard" for estimating the maturational state are the methods based on radiography of the hand and wrist; however, their limitations mean that their use in the assessment of young athletes is conditioned. Widely-used alternatives are anthropometric methods, which, although not free of limitations, have been shown to have sufficient reliability and validity. Sexual or tooth maturation do not seem to be as applicable in this field.