Abstract
Puberty is a time of substantial biological and psychological changes. One of the hallmarks of puberty is a rapid growth spurt, however its timing varies between individuals. The impact of pubertal timing on later health outcomes has been of interest in life course epidemiology, however its measurement can be challenging. Age at peak height velocity (aPHV) offers an objective measure of pubertal timing without having to rely on physical examination or self-report. We describe the derivation of aPHV estimates in Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) offspring, using Superimposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) mixed effects growth curve analysis. ALSPAC is a rich source of phenotypic and genotypic data and given the importance of pubertal timing for later health outcomes, these data offer an opportunity to explore the determinants and consequences of aPHV.
Highlights
Puberty is a period of significant biological and psychological changes in human development
One of the hallmarks of puberty is a rapid growth spurt, its timing varies between individuals
We describe the derivation of at peak height velocity (aPHV) estimates in Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) offspring, using Superimposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) mixed effects growth curve analysis
Summary
Puberty is a period of significant biological and psychological changes in human development. The relationship of pubertal timing with adverse health outcomes in later life has been investigated previously[1]. Self-reported puberty measures lack reliability[4,5], and may be unpopular with study participants, potentially leading to large amounts of missing data. Another measure, age at peak height velocity (aPHV) provides an objective and non-invasive assessment of pubertal status. This paper describes the application of Superimposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) mixed effects growth curve model (described previously by Cole et al.7) for analysis of height in puberty and estimating aPHV in ALSPAC offspring which resulted in a new dataset being generated. Previous studies have shown this to be a suitable method for estimating aPHV8, even with fairly sparse data[9]
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