The Distribution of Pubertal Age among Male School Students in Jatinangor District from April to June 2013
Abstract: Puberty is important
and exciting lifetime changes in an individual. Many new changes are
experienced during puberty, such as physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Currently, young males worldwide have different onset of pubertal age. Many
factors may result in this change of pubertal age. The exact pubertal age was
still unknown due to less study conducted previously. Therefore, the aim of
this study was to identify the distribution of pubertal age among male school
students in Jatinangor.
Methods: A descriptive study was conducted from April to June 2013. A
secondary data were obtained from the Jatinangor Cohort Study, from the
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas
Padjadjaran. The samples were taken via cluster random sampling from 48 schools
around Jatinangor. Randomization was conducted and a total of 219 male students
were finally obtained from the overall data which had at least single onset of
pubertal changes. This presents a response rate of 82.33%.
Results: The earliest onset of pubertal age was identified as 9 years old
and the oldest onset was 18 years old. The majority onset of pubertal age
ranged from 12 to 15 years old with average mean of 13 years. Voice changes
were identified as the early sign of puberty among males.
Conclusions: Majority of the students undergo puberty at age 13 which is
earlier compared to previous studies. Thus, this study indicates decreasing in
onset of pubertal age among male school students in Jatinangor.
Author: Karthik Yogaswaran,
Anggraini Widjajakusuma, Juliati
Journal Code: jpkedokterangg160088
