Chinese Journal of Evidence -Based Pediatric ›› 2020, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (6): 441-446.

• Original Papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A comparative study of the consistency between the Greulich-Pyle method and the China 05 method in normal children aged 6-18 years

CAI Guang, PAN Qile, ZHU Rongxin   

  1. Shanghai Research Institute of Sports Science,Shanghai 200030,China
  • Received:2020-08-25 Revised:2020-10-27 Online:2020-12-25 Published:2020-12-25
  • Contact: CAI Guang

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the consistency between the Greulich-Pyle method and the China 05 method for assessing bone age in normal children, and to compare the assessment results with the chronological age. Methods: All subjects, collected from 5 primary and secondary schools in Xuhui and Jing'an districts of Shanghai, were taken with orthotopic left-handed DR digital radiography, and two experts performed the GP method and the China 05 method, respectively. Pearson's analysis was used to analyze the correlation of the two methods and Kappa analysis was used to test the consistency of differences between the assessment results and the chronological age. Results: A total of 4,151 students, including 2,184 males and 1,967 females, completed the bone age sampling from December 2015 to October 2016. Pearson's analysis showed two assessment results were highly correlated in general and by developmental stages(r=0.888-0.988, P<0.000 1). The correlation coefficient r between the two methods and the chronological age ranged from 0.487 to 0.851 (P<0.001 for both). Kappa analysis showed the Kappa values were below 0.5 for both boys and girls in general and by age. The GP method values were less than that of the China 05 method (P<0.000 1) for males before the age of 10 and females before the age of 9. Assessment results of the two methods were basically the same for females at the age of 9 (P> 0.05) and the GP method values were greater than that of the China 05 method (P< 0.000 1) for males and females after the age of 9. The China 05 results were closer to the chronological age for both sexes. Conclusion: The consistency between the two methods of bone age assessment is low for normal children and adolescents, and the assessment of maturity status should be combined with other growth indicators. In this sample, the China 05 method was slightly better than the GP method.