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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #102258
Title: VALIDITY OF SELF-ASSESSMENT OF PUBERTAL MATURATION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

Author
item HERGENROEDER, ALBERT - BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MED
item HILL, REBECCA - BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MED
item Wong, William
item SANGI-HAGHPEYKAR, HALEH - BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MED
item TAYLOR, WENDELL - UNIV OF TEXAS HEALTH SCI

Submitted to: Journal of Adolescent Health
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Some adolescents would not want to participate in a study if they knew their bodies were going to be examined by a doctor to determine their stage of sexual development at puberty. Therefore, self-assessment would seem to be a useful technique in this population. A total of 107 girls, age 8 to 17, were recruited for a study on adolescents' energy needs. The girls were easked to assess two aspects of their sexual maturation by crosschecking their bodies against drawings and descriptions of different stages of development of breasts and pubic hair. Also, two doctors did physical exams of some subjects. We compared these methods and found that self-assessment of both aspects of maturation was not reliable in this group of girls. If precise assessment of the pubertal stage is the goal, then the self- assessment method seems questionable. However, if the research question does not require exact assessment of the particular stage, the technique may be useful. This information is helpful in weighing the validity of a technique involved in children's research.

Technical Abstract: Purpose: To evaluate interobserver reliability of physician assessments of pubertal maturation and to evaluate the validity of self-assessment compared to physician assessments of pubertal maturation by girls in a multi-ethnic sample. Methods: The study design is descriptive. A total of 107 8-17-year old healthy volunteers from settings with large minority populations in the Houston metropolitan area were recruited for a study on adolescents' energy needs. The two outcome measures were interobserver reliability between two physicians' assessments of breast and pubic hair, and the self-assessment of breast and pubic hair maturation compared to physicians' assessments. Results: The kappa coefficient for physician interobserver agreement for breast maturation was 0.5. The kappa coefficient for physician interobserver agreement for assessment of pubic hair was 0.79. The kappa coefficient for the validity of self-assessment of breast development was 0.34, and that for self-assessment of pubic hair was 0.37. Conclusion: Interobserver agreement for physician assessment of breast maturation was low and self-assessment of breast maturation was not reliable in this group of adolescent girls. However, whereas physician interobserver agreement for pubic hair was good, self-assessment of pubic hair maturation was not reliable in this group of adolescent girls.