A Numerical Method for Estimating the Variance of Age at Maximum Growth Rate in Growth Models

Studies on maturation and body composition mention age at peak height velocity (PHV) as an important measure that could predict adulthood outcome. The age at PHV is often derived from growth models such as the triple logistic fitted to the stature (height) data. Theoretically, for a well-behaved growth function, age at PHV could be obtained by setting the second derivative of the growth function to zero and solving for age. Such a solution obviously depends on the parameters of the growth function. Therefore, the uncertainty in the estimation of age at PHV resulting from the uncertainty in the estimation of the growth model, need to be accounted for in the models in which it is used as a predictor. Explicit expressions for the age at PHV and, consequently the variance of the estimate of the age at PHV, do not exist for some of the commonly used nonlinear growth functions, such as the triple logistic function. Once an estimate of this variance is obtained, it could be incorporated in subsequent modeling either through measurement error models or by using the inverse variances as weights. A numerical method for estimating the variance is implemented. The accuracy of this method is demonstrated through comparisons in models where explicit solution for the variance exists. The method of estimating the variance is illustrated by applying to growth data from the Fels study and subsequently used as weights in modeling two adulthood outcomes from the same study.