Introduction: Pubertal development is a process leading to the acquisition of
reproductive capacities. Among the factors that inhibit pubertal development
are chronic diseases including sickle cell anemia, which is a public health
problem. Objectives: Describe the sociodemographic and clinical
characteristics of adolescents with sickle cell disease. Report the prevalence
of abnormalities of pubertal development. Identify associated factors that
delay pubertal development. Patients and Methods: This was a multicenter
analytical cross-sectional study over 7 months at the National Reference Center
for Sickle Cell Disease and, at the Brazzaville University Hospital. It
concerned adolescents with sickle cell disease aged between 10 to 19 years. The
study focused on the sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents, the
natural history of sickle cell anemia and the evaluation of secondary sexual
characteristics using the Tanner classification. Nutritional status was
assessed by calculating body mass index (BMI) and height/age and weight/age
ratios. Results: Of the 347 adolescents included, the average age of the
adolescents was 15.1 ± 2.5 years, 56.5% had normal puberty, 42.6% had delayed
puberty and 0.9% had impuberty. The associated factors were under-nutrition
with less than 3 meals/day (p = 0.0000), social status with more marked
pubertal delay in orphans (p = 0.00127), more than 5 hospitalizations per year
(p = 0.0013), pubertal delay was statistically significant in adolescents who
had more than 3 vaso-occlusive crises (p = 0.0000), and those who had more than
5 blood transfusions since the discovery of the disease (p = 0.0127). Conclusion:
The factors that hinder pubertal development in sickle cell patients are
intrinsic (sickle cell anemia with its complications) and extrinsic
(environmental: diet, social status). The appearance of secondary sexual
characteristics is delayed on average by two years compared to the general
population.
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