. 2023 Nov 8;12(12):e230084. doi: 10.1530/EC-23-0084

Table 2.

Correlations between salivary androgens and self-reported pubertal development in boys. Data are presented as Spearman correlation coefficient.

Pubertal measure	Testosterone	A4	17-OHP	11-OHA4	11-KT	DHEA
Collected at any time
n	148	148	144	145	145	155
Individual PDS components
Axillary hair	0.52^b	0.44^b	0.34^b	0.24^b	0.35^b	0.11
Growth	0.32^b	0.23^b	0.21^a	0.12	0.13	0.07
Facial hair	0.56^b	0.42^b	0.36^b	0.1	0.21^b	0.1
Pubic hair	0.39^b	0.34^b	0.22^b	0.17^a	0.29^b	−0.02
Skin changes	0.18^a	0.18^a	0.02	0.05	0.15	0.07
Voice changes	0.57^b	0.46^b	0.42^b	0.25^b	0.36^b	0.24^b
Composite PDS score	0.64^b	0.51^b	0.39^b	0.23^b	0.36^b	0.13
PDS-derived pubertal categories	0.63^b	0.50^b	0.45^b	0.19^a	0.36^b	0.15^a
Before 11:00 h
n	58	58	58	56	57	62
Individual PDS components
Axillary hair	0.53^b	0.37^b	0.39^b	0.25	0.40^b	0.08
Growth	0.37^b	0.24	0.28^b	−0.01	0.06	0.04
Facial hair	0.63^b	0.40^b	0.46^b	0.19	0.28^a	0.07
Pubic hair	0.53^b	0.44^b	0.42^b	0.25	0.40^b	0.02
Skin changes	0.26^a	0.29^a	0.14	0.06	0.09	0.03
Voice changes	0.67^b	0.44^b	0.50^b	0.32^a	0.51^b	0.34^b
Composite PDS score	0.75^b	0.53^b	0.57^b	0.27^a	0.45^b	0.14
PDS-derived pubertal categories	0.69^b	0.46^b	0.57^b	0.24^a	0.42^b	0.25^b
After 11:00 h
n	85	85	81	84	83	88
Individual PDS components
Axillary hair	0.52^b	0.46^b	0.29^b	0.19	0.23^a	0.17
Growth	0.32^b	0.22^a	0.2	0.14	0.11	0.08
Facial hair	0.49^b	0.42^b	0.26^a	0.01	0.13	0.15
Pubic hair	0.30^b	0.30^b	0.12	0.13	0.2	0.02
Skin changes	0.16	0.09	−0.04	−0.05	0.05	0.12
Voice changes	0.48^b	0.41^b	0.34^b	0.14	0.2	0.14
Composite PDS score	0.57^b	0.45^b	0.29^b	0.11	0.19	0.16
PDS-derived pubertal categories	0.58^b	0.52^b	0.39^b	0.14	0.23^b	0.12

a and b indicate statistically significant correlation coefficients where P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively. Composite PDS scores were the mean of all six pubertal domain scores. The PDS-derived pubertal category in boys are derived from the sum of voice change, facial hair growth and body hair growth category from PDS self-report: prepubertal: 3, early pubertal: 4–5 (no 3-point responses), midpubertal: 6–8 (no 4-point responses), late pubertal: 9–11 and post pubertal: 12. In girls, the puberty category scores used body hair growth, breast development and menarche status as follows: prepubertal: 2 and no menarche, early pubertal: 3 and no menarche, midpubertal: >3 and no menarche, late pubertal <7 and menarche and post pubertal: 8 and menarche. Body hair growth in the present study was derived from the average scores between axillary hair and pubic hair development category in PDS self-report, rounded to the nearest integer.

11-OHA4, 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione; 17-OHP, 17-hydroxyprogesterone; A4, androstenedione; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; PDS, Pubertal Development Scale.