Validity and reliability of parent assessments of pubertal maturation among adolescent girls in Isfahan, Iran.

OBJECTIVES: The current paper presents the steps considered for validation of a questionnaire for assessment of sexual maturity among Iranian adolescent girls. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2022 in Isfahan, Iran. Based on the Growth and Development Questionnaire that included both the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and Sexual Maturation Scale (SMS), two Persian questionnaires were prepared. The face validity, content validity, criterion validity, and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed. We compared agreement of two parent-reported measures of puberty, SMS and PDS, with clinical Tanner stages (TSs) as the gold standard. Percent agreement, Cohen's kappa coefficient, and Kendall's τ b were used to assess the agreement between maternal assessments with clinical TS. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Cronbach's α coefficient were also calculated to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 150 students aged 6-17 years with mean (SD) age of 10 (2.04) completed this study. The percentages of agreement for the mother-reported SMS in relation to clinical TS for breast stage and pubic hair stage were 60 % and 53.8 %, respectively. The percentages of agreement of the mother-reported PDS in relation to clinical TS for breast stage and pubic hair stage were 55.8 and 66 %, respectively. The weighted kappa coefficients showed moderate agreement, with weighted kappa ranging from 0.52 to 0.61. The mother-reported SMS and PDS showed high reliability. The Cronbach's alpha of the PDS and the SMS was 0.88 and 0.83, respectively. The ICC of the mother-reported SMS and the mother-reported PDS was 0.95 (0.92-0.98) and 0.97 (0.94-0.98), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that a maternal assessment of sexual maturity using the PDS or SMS can reliably estimate pubertal development in adolescent girls in an Iranian population.

The association of quantitative insulin sensitivity indices (HOMA-IR and QUICKI) with anthropometric and cardiometabolic indicators in adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Homoeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) and the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) are used to evaluate insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between quantitative insulin sensitivity indices and anthropometric and cardiometabolic indicators in adolescents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on 80 adolescents aged 12 to 13 years in Isfahan, Iran. Anthropometric, cardiometabolic and QUICKI and HOMA-IR indicators were measured. In the results analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between most of the anthropometric indicators and the HOMA-IR index and a significant negative correlation with QUICKI (all p < 0.0001). Moreover, serum triglyceride level had a significant negative correlation with QUICKI index (R = -0.33, p = 0.002) and systolic blood pressure (R = 0.44, p < 0.0001), and triglyceride level (R = 0.66, p < 0.0001) had a significant positive correlation with HOMA index. The results of these two indices were highly correlated in most of the anthropometric and biochemical indices, except for the waist circumference to the neck circumference ratio and systolic blood pressure, which had a significant positive association with HOMA-IR, but did not show a significant association with QUICKI index. CONCLUSIONS: A significant correlation between anthropometric and cardiometabolic indicators with insulin resistance indices (HOMA-IR and QUICKI) was found. Moreover, the results of these two indices were highly correlated in most of the anthropometric and biochemical indices, except for the waist circumference to the neck circumference ratio and systolic blood pressure.