Nutritional status and clinical characteristics in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and nutritional status of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) in Taiwanese children.


METHODS
Fifty-three patients were included in this study. The disease subtype and patient characteristics were recorded. Body mass index (BMI) was determined. Seventy-five healthy age-matched children served as a control group.


RESULTS
The inflammation parameters, including white blood cell count, platelet count, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, were elevated in the systemic group. The BMI level of the JRA group was significantly lower than the control group (p = 0.006), especially in the male patients (p = 0.016) and when the patient age was greater than 4 (p = 0.011). The patients with oligoarticular onset JRA had significantly lower BMI compared with the healthy control group (p = 0.012).


CONCLUSIONS
Nutritional status is often impaired in patients with JRA. The BMI of the JRA patients was lower than that of age-matched healthy children, especially in the male group, and when disease onset age was greater than 4. In our unselected sample, the most affected disease subtype was oligoarticular onset JRA.
Shin
Shou-Ting
ST
Department of Pediatrics, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yu
Hsin-Hui
HH
Wang
Li-Chieh
LC
Lee
Jyh-Hong
JH
Lin
Yu-Tsan
YT
Yang
Yao-Hsu
YH
Chiang
Bor-Luen
BL
D000367:Age Factors; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000473:pathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan