{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T05:40:34Z","timestamp":1791351634616,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,25]],"date-time":"2022-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1661385600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study was conducted to investigate changes and new trends over the past 6 years by analyzing the current status of precocious puberty (PP) treatment and treatment costs in Korea between 2016 and 2021.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Annual and monthly number of patients diagnosed with PP from 2016 to 2021 were reviewed using the data from Healthcare Bigdata Hub. Annual medical insurance expenses for the treatment of PP were also reviewed. The data were compared by the gender of the patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The number of patients diagnosed with PP rose from 86,352 in 2016 to 166,645 in 2021, while medical expenses rose from KRW 64,111,689,000 in 2016 to KRW 134,642,100,000 in 2021. The percentage of male PP patients increased from 9.21% in 2016 to 19.55% in 2021.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Increasing numbers of Korean patients diagnosed with PP. Consistent with the situation in other countries, the rapid increase in the number of cases since April 2020 appears to be a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Korea, this is considered a nationwide phenomenon. Also on the rise is the incidence of PP in males, which appears to be due to an increased awareness of the phenomenon. Further investigations are required to determine the possible causes in increasing prevalence of PP.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2022.968511","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,25]],"date-time":"2022-08-25T06:31:26Z","timestamp":1661409086000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["An increasing tendency of precocious puberty among Korean children from the perspective of COVID-19 pandemic effect"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Kyu Hee","family":"Choi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seung Chan","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1542\/pir.27-10-373","article-title":"Precocious puberty.","volume":"27","author":"Muir","year":"2006","journal-title":"Pediatr Rev."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2019.5881","article-title":"Worldwide secular trends in age at pubertal onset assessed by breast development among females: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"174","author":"Eckert-Lind","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA Pediatr."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.7778\/jpkm.2016.30.4.060","article-title":"An increase of patients diagnosed as precocious puberty among Korean children from 2010 to 2015.","volume":"30","author":"Choi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Pediatr Korean Med."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0141844","article-title":"A significant increase in the incidence of central precocious puberty among Korean females from 2004 to 2010.","volume":"10","author":"Kim","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpeds.2018.12.022","article-title":"Incidence and prevalence of central precocious puberty in Korea: an epidemiologic study based on a national database.","volume":"208","author":"Kim","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Pediatr."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13052-020-00931-3","article-title":"Increased incidence of precocious and accelerated puberty in females during and after the Italian lockdown for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.","volume":"46","author":"Stagi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ital J Pediatr."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13052-021-01015-6","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on early onset of puberty: experience of an Italian tertiary center.","volume":"47","author":"Verzani","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ital J Pediatr."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1515\/jpem-2021-0565","article-title":"Increased frequency of idiopathic central precocious puberty in girls during the COVID-19 pandemic: preliminary results of a tertiary center study.","volume":"35","author":"Acar","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.54005\/geneltip.1011301","article-title":"Evaluation of COVID-19 pandemic process effect on the increase of precocious puberty and premature thelarche.","volume":"32","author":"Akyurek","year":"2022","journal-title":"Genel Top Derg."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4274\/jcrpe.galenos.2022.2022-12-11","article-title":"Has the frequency of preccocious puberty and rapidly progressive early puberty increased in girls during the COVID-19 pandemic?","author":"Acinikli","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"895","DOI":"10.1515\/jpem-2022-0157","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on idiopathic central precocious puberty \u2013 experience from an Indian centre.","volume":"35","author":"Shruti","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2022.839895","article-title":"Difference of precocious puberty between before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study among Shanghai school-aged girls.","volume":"13","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. 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