RELATIVE USEFULNESS OF 3 GROWTH-HORMONE STIMULATION SCREENING-TESTS

One hundred ninety-one children were tested by one of three screening procedures for growth hormone deficiency over a five-year period. Sleep screen yielded a 31.3% false-positive rate; levodopa administration alone yielded a 20.5% false-positive rate and levodopa in combination with propranolol yielded a 5.2% false-positve rate. These results support the view that the combined levodopa—propranolol hydrochloride screen test is superior to either the sleep or the levodopa screen tests in limiting the number of false-positive results and thus the need for further, more extensive testing. (Am J Dis Child 133:931-933, 1979. © 1979, American Medical Association. All rights reserved.