A Follow-up Study of Growth and Nutrition Intakes of a Cohort of Patients with Mild, Moderate and Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

• Published in: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1995-09, Vol.95 (9), p.A31-A31
• Main Authors: Jeffcoat, M.C., Wooldridge, N.H., Craig, C.B., Lyrene, R.K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0002-8223; 1878-3570
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-8223(95)00461-0

This study was a continuation of a previous study of a cohort of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) patients. The purpose of this second study was to determine: (1) if a change in nutritional status as measured by weight percentile (wt%), height percentile (ht%), weight/height percentile (wt/ht%), kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg), and protein per kilogram (pro/kg) took place over a period of 2 years; (2) if a change in disease severity, classified as mild, moderate, or severe as defined by the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health and Resources Development Guidelines for the Care of Children with Chronic Lung Disease took place over a 2 year period; and (3) which independent variables (wt%, ht%, wt/ht%, kcal/kg, pro/kg, history of bronchodilator treatment, and history of steroid treatment) affected change in disease severity category. Thirteen of the original thirty-one subjects were recruited for the second study. A paired t-test was used to determine changes in wt%, ht%, wt/ht%, kcal/kg, and pro/kg from Time 1 (Study 1) to Time 2 (Study 2). Although there was an improvement in the mean of all the parameters in all of the patients, the difference was not statistically significant. A kappa statistic was used to determine changes in the numbers of patients in each severity of disease category. The test showed a 96% agreement and no significant change in 2 years. Since there was no significant change, the third hypothesis could not be tested. However, when a Logistic Regression Analysis was applied to the data, history of bronchodilator treatment and history of steroid treatment were the first to be eliminated. Twelve out of thirteen patients were receiving bronchodilator therapy and 9/13 patients were receiving steroid therapy. A two way ANOVA was used to compare similarities and differences between those patients who improved in disease category and those who remained the same or worsened between Time 1 and Time 2. There was a significant group/time effect found in the mean wt/ht% between the 2 groups (p = .0468). The same/worse group had a lower mean wt/ht% than the improved group during Time 1, but a higher mean wt/ht% at Time 2. This finding could be explained by the fact that although the mean wt% of the two groups (improved and same/worse) improved as a whole from Time 1 to Time 2, mean ht% did not show the same improvement in the entire group. The improved group's mean ht% did in fact increase from Time 1 to Time 2, more than the same/worse group's, w