Near final height in Korean children referred for evaluation of short stature: clinical utility and analytical validity of height prediction methods

Purpose Predicted adult height (PAH) is often crucial to decision-making about treatment with human growth hormone (GH) or gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in children with short stature. This study compares final adult height (FAH) with different methods used to determine PAH and assesses the clinical utility and analytical validity of height prediction for children not treated with GH. Methods Clinical findings were retrospectively analyzed, and the heights of 44 children (22 males and 22 females) who visited our clinic between August 2006 and June 2017 and reached near final adult height (NFAH) were evaluated. Children treated with GH were excluded. We compared measured NFAH to PAH using the Bayley-Pinneau (BP), Tanner-Whitehouse Mark 2, and Roche-Wainer-Thissen (RWT) methods. Results Pearson correlation between all 3 prediction methods and NFAH showed high positive correlations in males and females (P