By order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 479 dated 08.04.2026, the standard of medical care "Short Stature" has been approved. It is supplemented by a clinical guideline developed on the basis of evidence-based medicine with the participation of specialists of the Center.
The documents establish modern approaches to the diagnosis and management of children with growth retardation and are an important practical tool for physicians.
One of the key provisions is the mandatory regular measurement of a child's height and assessment of its dynamics during routine examinations. This allows for timely detection of deviations, identification of the cause, and initiation of the necessary treatment.
Short stature is not merely an individual characteristic but often a manifestation of various diseases. It may be a sign of chronic somatic, endocrine, genetic, or metabolic disorders.
Among the most common causes:
- systemic diseases (nutritional disorders, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, long-term glucocorticoid therapy, oncological diseases)
- endocrine disorders (hypothyroidism, growth hormone deficiency, Cushing's syndrome, precocious puberty)
- genetic syndromes (Turner, Prader-Willi, Noonan, Silver-Russell, Down, as well as SHOX gene variants)
The implementation of the standard will allow:
- systematize approaches to diagnosing the causes of growth retardation
- determine clinical approaches to treatment
- improve the quality of medical care
The text of the standard and clinical guideline can be found in the Register of Medical Technological Documents at the link https://www.dec.gov.ua/mtd/nyzkoroslist/
