Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences 2021;11(3):547–552 Content available at: https://www.ipinnovative.com/open-access-journals Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences Journal homepage: http://www.pjms.in/ Original Research Article An analysis of demographic and etiological factors of children and adolescents with short stature in the rural tertiary center- An observational study Dixa Shah 1 , Sunil Pathak 2 , Ashutosh Singh Rathore 2 , Prashant Modi 3, *, Dhrumika Sheth 2 , Mayur Shah 2 1 Dept. of Pediatrics, Divine Plus Child Hospital, Tagore Road, Rajkot, Gujarat, India 2 Dept. of Pediatrics, Smt. B.K.Shah Medical Institute & Research Center, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Vadodara, Gujarat, India 3 Dept. of Pediatrics, Parul Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 30-12-2020 Accepted 09-01-2021 Available online 24-11-2021 Keywords: Pathological short stature Normal variants Etiology malnutrition Idiopathic short stature Standard deviation score ABSTRACT Objectives: (i) To determine pattern of and proportion of various etiology of short stature. (ii) To determine relationship of the Standard Deviation Score (SDS) with etiology. Materials and Methods: This non-analytic observational study, assessed demographic parameters, anthropometry and etiology associate with short stature adolescents and children (6 months to 18 years). Short stature was defined as length/ height for age < 3 rd centile or < -2 SD as per age & gender specific growth charts. Results: Out of 105 subjects, 22 were 6 months to < 5 years age, 33 were 5 to 10 years age and 50 were 10 to < 18 years age with M: F ratio of 1.28:1. Average value of chronological age, height age, and height SDS were 8.86 years, 5.62 years, and – 3.44 SD, respectively. 45.71% subjects were malnourished. Idiopathic short stature (24.7%), chronic renal diseases (12.3%) and endocrine disorders (12.3%) were found as etiology common in all three age groups. Chronic neurological diseases (9.5%) were more common in 6 months to < 5-year age group; while endocrine disorders (16%), respiratory diseases (12%), gastrointestinal diseases (8%), and renal diseases (8%) were common in adolescents. The maximum average height SDS (-2.3 ± 0.2) was observed with normal variants; while the lowest average SDS (-4.8 ± 2.0) was observed with syndromic short stature children. Conclusion: Malnutrition was significant co-existing factor in pathological short stature. The common etiology of pathological short stature varied with different age groups. The SDS is important in deciding evaluation plan for particular short stature case. This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprint@ipinnovative.com 1. Introduction Growth monitoring is not only an essential part of preventive child health programs but is also pivotal for judging the children’s well-being. The short stature is not a disease per se. It reflects growth faltering in an otherwise normal-child due to a variety of underlying diseases. The first step in approaching a child with short stature is to differentiate * Corresponding author. E-mail address: dpmm408@gmail.com (P. Modi). normal variants from pathological short stature as it needs a separate set of investigations. 1 The comparison of individual stunted child’s height SDS (Standard Deviation Score) with his/her Mid-Parental-Height (MPH) SDS is an essential clinical step in identifying pathological short stature. 2 The aetiologies causing pathological short stature include chronic systemic diseases, endocrine disorders, genetic diseases, malnutrition, skeletal dysplasia, rickets, etc. The short stature can be subcategorized into proportionate and dis-proportionate short stature based on https://doi.org/10.18231/j.pjms.2021.107 2249-8176/© 2021 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 547