Peak cortisol response to corticotropin-releasing hormone is associated with age and body size in children referred for clinical testing: a retrospective review

Table 2 Bivariable analysis of peak and delta cortisol

	Peak cortisol (nmol/L)		Delta cortisol (nmol/L)
	Coefficient	p-value	Coefficient	p-value
Age (years)	−7.6	0.02*		NS
Weight (kg)	−2.5	0.002 **	−1.4	0.06#
Weight inverse (1/kg)	1153.9	0.004 **		NS
Height (m)	−174.1	0.001 **	−85.9	0.08#
BMI (kg/m²)	−6.5	0.04*		NS
BSA (m²)	−123.8	0.001 **	−67.4	0.05#
BMI z-score	−14.6	NS		NS
Height z-score	−41.7	<0.0005**	−33.4	<0.005**
Sex (vs female)	−42.8	0.18#	−19.1	NS
Race		NS		NS
Ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino vs Non-Hispanic/Latino)		NS	−94.3	0.09#
Pubertal status (vs Tanner I)		0.21		0.09#
Tanner II-IV		NS		NS
Tanner V	−115.2	0.14#	−154.7	0.03*
Pubic hair development (yes vs no)		NS		NS
Indication for testing (vs GH sufficient short stature)		<0.0005**		<0.0005**
GHD		NS		NS
Concern for multi-pituitary abnormalities	−65	0.11#	−55.1	0.16
Neoplasm with risk to pituitary		NS		NS
Exogenous glucocorticoid exposure	−312.7	<0.0005**	−239.0	<0.0005**
Known multi-pituitary abnormalities	−133.7	0.02*	−105.3	0.05
Time of testing (PM vs AM)	−40.1	0.17#	−62.2	0.02*
Baseline cortisol (nmol/L)	0.72	<0.0005**	−0.35	<0.0005**
Baseline ACTH (pmol/L)	10.6	0.01*	−5.9	0.11#
Delta ACTH (pmol/L)	3.4	<0.0005**	4.0	<0.0005**
Peak ACTH (pmol/L)	3.6	<0.0005**	3.6	<0.0005**

#p-value <0.2 (for use in multivariate analysis); *p-value;<0.05, **p-value < 0.005