Stunting is an independent predictor of mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis

• Published in: Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2013-06, Vol.32 (3), p.382-385
• Main Authors: Vieni, Giuseppe, Faraci, Simona, Collura, Mirella, Lombardo, Mariangela, Traverso, Gabriella, Cristadoro, Simona, Termini, Lisa, Lucanto, Maria Cristina, Furnari, Maria Lucia, Trimarchi, Giuseppe, Triglia, Maria Rita, Costa, Stefano, Pellegrino, Salvatore, Magazzù, Giuseppe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Area Under Curve; Biological and medical sciences; Body Height; Body Mass Index; Burkholderia cepacia; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Cystic fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis - mortality; Cystic Fibrosis - physiopathology; Errors of metabolism; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Malnutrition; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Miscellaneous hereditary metabolic disorders; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Nutritional Status; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Stunting; Survival Rate; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0261-5614; 1532-1983
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2012.08.017

Summary Background & aims Some studies have shown a direct relationship between nutritional status and survival in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. Body wasting, defined as a percentage of the ideal body weight for age, has been shown to be an independent predictor of mortality in CF. With respect to height only two studies were performed and these studies suggested that stunting is an important determinant of survival but both did not adjust statistical analysis for confounding variables. We aimed at determining the association between stunting and risk of mortality in CF patients. Methods 393 CF patients older than 6 years of age, 95 deceased, as cases, and 298 live, as controls, were enrolled in a nested case-control study. Stunting was defined by a height percentile < 5th. We performed a multivariate statistical analysis including height percentile and the following possible confounding variables: age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s (FEV1 ), genotype, pancreatic status, CF-related diabetes, colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and/or Burkholderia cepacia. Results In the adjusted analyses stunting (OR 2.22 [IC 95%1.10–4.46]), wasting (OR 5.27 [IC 95% 2.66–10.41]), and FEV1