Precocious puberty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey of Argentine pediatric endocrinologists

Introduction. Puberty is initially manifested by the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics, as a consequence of hormonal changes that progressively lead to full sexual maturity. In Argentina and the world, the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus generated a confinement that could have interfered in the onset and timing of pubertal development. Objective. To describe the perception of pediatric endocrinologists in the country on consultations for suspected precocious puberty and/or rapidly progressive puberty during the pandemic. Materials and methods. Descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study. Anonymous survey to pediatric endocrinologists belonging to the Sociedad Argentina de Pediatria and/or the Asociacion de Endocrinologia Pediatrica Argentina, in December 2021. Results. Eighty-three out of 144 pediatric endocrinologists responded to the survey (response rate 58 %). All of them considered that consultation for precocious or early development increased, either in its variants precocious telarca (84 %), precocious pubarca (26 %) and/or precocious puberty (95 %). Ninety-nine percent agreed that it has occurred to a greater extent in girls. The totality of the respondents also consider that the diagnosis of central precocious puberty has increased. 96.4 % consider that the number of patients treated with GnRH analogues has increased.Conclusion. Our results on the perception of pediatric endocrinologists coincide with data published in other regions on the increase in the diagnosis of precocious puberty during the COVID-19 pandemic. We reaffirm the need to generate national registries of central precocious puberty, disseminate the evidence for its detection and timely approach.