Increased frequency of central precocious puberty during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic at a single center in the Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan

ABSTRACT

As environmental factors are known to affect the timing of puberty, self-isolation during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may affect the incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP). This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of CPP during the COVID-19 pandemic at a single center in the Osaka metropolitan area of Japan. We retrospectively analyzed the annual frequency of CPP occurrence before and after the first declaration of COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan at our hospital. We performed an interrupted time-series analysis to investigate the frequency of patients with CPP at our hospital from 2016 to 2021. There was a significant increase in the frequency of patients with CPP before and after the state of emergency declaration, both overall and among females. However, there was no significant increase in the number of males. There were no significant differences in the clinical, auxological, and endocrinological features between those diagnosed before and after the state of emergency. Overall, the frequency of CPP significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic at a single center in the Osaka metropolitan area of Japan.