Short girls less likely to be evaluated: study

By Jessica Zigmond
Posted: March 21, 2011 - 2:00 pm ET

A study in the publication Pediatrics shows that primary-care physicians are less likely to refer short girls than short boys for diagnostic testing that can reveal underlying medical conditions for their short stature.

Researchers from the 459-bed Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania—who released their study online today in the journal's April issue—analyzed referral patterns for "growth faltering," which was defined as being in the lowest 5% of height for the child's age and gender, or by a standardized measure of growth deceleration.

"We found that growth faltering is common in urban, largely minority, underserved pediatric practices," pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Adda Grimberg of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said in a news release about the findings. "Only 8% of the children with growth faltering received sub-specialist care, and there is a gender and race disparity that is not beneficial to the children who may need additional treatment." In 2005, Grimberg published work on gender bias among children receiving evaluation for short statute in subspecialty clinics.

Read more at the link.