Somatiese en seksuele karakteristieke se vermoë om rypheidstatus by rugbyspelers te bepaal

The aim of this study was to determine the utility of a self administered questionnaire on maturity status (MSQ) (which also included questions on somatic development) by comparing it with biological age (as determined by the Greulich-Pyle x-ray [GP] method). The MSQ was compiled based on the sexual maturity stages developed by Tanner in 1962, while biological age was determined by the Greulich-Pyle (GP) method. Rugby players (N=18) were tested over a period of three years (15.9 – 17.9 years old). The GP method classified the players into early developers (ED) (n=4), average developers (AD) (n=13) and one (n=1) late developer. Discriminant function analysis identified seven from 10 questions at the mean age of 15.7 years regarding sexual and somatic maturity to discriminate between ED and AD. Only 25% of the ED and 61% of the AD could, however, be classified back into their original groups by making use of the Jackknife statistical method. A further stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that three of the seven questions had better discriminative ability, although cross validation by means of the Jackknife method indicated that only 75% of the ED and 38.5% of the AD could be classified correctly by means of these three variables. It was concluded that the discriminality of the MSQ was not adequate, but that some variables have more potential for classification purposes than others. Refinement of the instrument is recommended. Key words: Biological age; Greulich-Pyle-method; Sexual maturity; Early developers; Late developers; Maturity status; Questionnaire