Delayed puberty

Abstract

Delayed puberty is defined as the delay in the appearance of secondary sexual characters in accordance with age. This review article aimed to highlight the causes of delayed puberty. A review of the already published articles in this context was carried out using PubMed, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database, Excerpta Medica database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar, and Scopus engine until October 2015. The following keywords were used to assess exposure, outcome, and estimates for concerned associations: delayed puberty; gonadal dysgenesis; Kallmann’s syndrome; developmental abnormalities of the pituitary; and Turner’s syndrome. Most studies on this subject classified delayed puberty in different ways, according to causes.