SynthesisBMC pediatrics2018
Preterm birth and the timing of puberty: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of size at birth on health, growth and developmental outcomes in children up to age 18: an umbrella review.Archives of disease in childhood · 2023Pooled it
- Gestational age at birth and body size from infancy through adolescence: An individual participant data meta-analysis on 253,810 singletons in 16 birth cohort studies.PLoS medicine · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women's Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Health and Development of Children Born Moderate and Late Preterm and Early Term at Age 10 in French Birth Cohorts ELFE and EPIPAGE 2.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Article
- Onset of puberty in boys with short stature is earlier in those born small-for-gestational age and later in those born appropriate-for-gestational age than in the general healthy population.Clinical pediatric endocrinology : case reports and clinical investigations : official journal of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Endocrinology · 2025Article
- Early life growth is related to pubertal growth and adult height - a QEPS-model analysis.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Developmental life history transitions can be shaped by structural inequities: Insights from the sociology of race.Developmental biology · 2025Review
- Associations between birth characteristics, pubertal timing and adult height.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Associations between birthweight and preterm birth and the ages at menarche and menopause.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- The effect of environmental factors on precocious puberty in children: a case-control study.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Preterm birth and subsequent timing of pubertal growth, menarche, and voice break.Pediatric research · 2022Article
- Early-life exposures and age at thelarche in the Sister Study cohort.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2021Article
- Association between factors related to the pregnancy, neonatal period, and later complications (especially asthma) and menarcheal age in a sample of Lebanese girls.BMC women's health · 2020Article
- Age at onset of different pubertal signs in boys and girls and differential DNA methylation at age 10 and 18 years: an epigenome-wide follow-up study.Human reproduction open · 2020Article
- Preterm birth in evolutionary context: a predictive adaptive response?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019Review
- Comparison of physical activity and body composition in a cohort of children born extremely preterm or with extremely low birth weight to matched term-born controls: a follow-up study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2019Article
- Gender-dependent association between sleep duration and overweight incidence in CHINESE school children: a national follow-up study.BMC public health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn estimated 11% of births occur preterm, and survival is improving. Early studies suggested an association between preterm birth and earlier puberty. Given the adverse outcomes associated with early puberty this could have significant public health implications. The objective of this review was to assess the timing of puberty after preterm birth.
methodsPubmed, Embase, Popline, Global Health and Global Health Library were searched using terms relating to "premature birth", "menarche", "puberty" and "follow up studies". Inclusion criteria were a population consisting of pubertal or post-pubertal adolescents and adults; studies which defined preterm delivery in participants and compared outcomes to those after term delivery; and a quantitative assessment of pubertal onset. Assessment of risk of bias was conducted using principles from the Critical Appraisal Study Process.
resultsOur search identified 1051 studies, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. In females, 8 studies found no association between preterm birth and the timing of menarche. Five studies found earlier onset in preterm infants, 1 found later onset, and 1 showed both earlier and later menarche, depending on birth weight. The range of effect of studies showing earlier menarche was - 0.94 to -0.07 years in the preterm group, with a median of - 0.3 years. In males, 2 studies showed earlier onset of puberty in the preterm group, 5 showed no difference, and 1 showed later onset. Most studies did not present outcomes in the form of a mean with standard deviation, precluding a meta-analysis. There was insufficient data to address potential confounding factors.
conclusionsThe published evidence does not suggest that being born preterm leads to a significant acceleration in the onset of puberty. This should prove reassuring for public health purposes, and for clinicians counseling parents of infants born preterm.
Indexed as
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.