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Abstract
Background Parental anxiety about the impact of puberty/menses, particularly in girls with severe disability leads to seeking therapeutic pubertal suppression. We aim to explore maternal attitudes and reasons for seeking pubertal suppression.
Methods Mothers of girls receiving gonadotropin -releasing hormone analogue therapy in Mafraq hospital, Abu Dhabi were enrolled in the study. A semistructured interview was conducted to ascertain possible reasons for delaying puberty. The study group was divided into girls with a disability with central precocious puberty (CPP) or normal puberty and girls without a disability presenting with CPP.
Results 42 mother–daughter pairs were enrolled and divided into two groups; group A: 15 girls with CPP with no disability; group B: 27 girls with disability (10 had CPP (group B1) and 17 had normal pubertal timing (group B2)). Mothers in group A aimed to delay puberty, while in group B, 13 (48%) mothers desired to halt puberty and 7 (26%) requested permanent surgical intervention. Fear of short stature (15, 100%), inability to cope psychologically (10, 67%) and fear of peer rejection (9, 60%) were the main concerns in group A. In group B, mothers were concerned about menstrual hygiene management (25, 92.5%), fear of child abuse or unwanted pregnancy (15, 55%) and fear of inability to express pain/discomfort with menstruation (8, 30%).
Conclusion Mothers of girls with a disability commonly seek medical help to delay/halt puberty due to concerns about menstrual hygiene. Short final height was the main concern for girls without a disability. Culture and religion play an important role in puberty management in girls with a disability.
- puberty
- disability
- gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue
- menstruation
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Footnotes
Contributors AD: designed the study, applied for ethical approval and wrote the manuscript. MA: designed the questionnaire and interviewed the study participants. AAZ and ZS: collected patients’ data and collated the results. SA, HAS and NAQ: clinicians who recruited the study subjects. SE: revised the study proposal, advised on the questionnaire design and revised the manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval Mafraq Hospital Research and Ethics Committee.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.