Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The age of the onset of puberty is much lower today than in the past century, due to the stability of the socio-economic conditions, improved quality of life and overall health of the population.

Materials and methods: We examined healthy 818 boys aged from 7 to 18 years, the study was conducted between 2009 and 2011.

Boys were examined in three urban districts of Tashkent city (i.e. Mirzo-Ulugbek, Shakhantaur, Yunus-Abad). Testicular volume was evaluated with a Prader orchidometer. The age of the onset of puberty was defined as the age at attainment of testicular volume of 4 ml or greater.

Results: The earliest age of the onset of puberty was 9.0 years (3.3%). All healthy boys had testicular volume greater than 4 ml by 14 years. The data suggest for healthy Uzbek boys is defined upper reference value of the age of the onset of puberty. Thereby the diagnosis of delayed puberty may be established at 14 years, which generally coincides with the international guidelines for the diagnosis of delayed sexual development. The median age of the onset of puberty for Uzbek boys of Tashkent city was 11.9 (95% CI 11.1–12.7), this data agree with Great Britain (11.9) and Byelorussia (11.9), but different from USA (11.5), Netherlands (11.5).

Conclusion: 1. The earliest age of the onset of puberty in healthy Uzbek boys of Tashkent city was 9.0 years and 14 years ultimate one.

2. The median age of the onset of puberty for Uzbek boys of Tashkent city was 11.9 years.

3. We have defined criteria for the diagnosis of delayed puberty at 14 years.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.