Growth Hormone Stimulation Testing Patterns Contribute to Sex Differences in Pediatric Growth Hormone Treatment.

Introduction: Males are twice as likely as females to receive pediatric growth hormone (GH) treatment in the USA, despite similar distributions of height z (HtZ)-scores in both sexes. Male predominance in evaluation and subspecialty referral for short stature contributes to this observation. This study investigates whether sex differences in GH stimulation testing and subsequent GH prescription further contribute to male predominance in GH treatment.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Investigation and Treatment of Growth Hormone Deficiency.

Objective: To determine if the racial/ethnic inequity in growth hormone (GH) use is due to differences in GH stimulation testing and/or prescribing patterns in children referred for endocrine evaluation of short stature.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review was performed including children aged 2-16 years, height z-score of ≤-1.5, and of non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB), or Hispanic race/ethnicity, referred for endocrine growth evaluation between January 2012 and December 2019.