title: Undernutrition in children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD): its prevalence and influence on quality of life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To estimate the prevalence of undernutrition among children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) and to explore its influence on quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-two children with PIMD (47 male; 25 female; age range 2 to 15 years 4 months; mean age 8.6, SD 3.6) underwent an anthropometric assessment, including body weight, triceps skinfold thickness, segmental measures and recumbent length. Undernutrition was determined using tricipital skinfold percentile and z-scores of weight-for-height and height-for-age. The quality of life of each child was evaluated using the QUALIN questionnaire adapted for profoundly disabled children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five children (34.7%) were undernourished and seven (9.7%) were obese. Among undernourished children only eight (32 %) were receiving food supplements and two (8%) had a gastrostomy, of which one was still on a refeeding programme. On multivariate analysis, undernutrition was one of the independent predictors of lower quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Undernutrition remains a matter of concern in children with PIMD. There is a need to better train professionals in systematically assessing the nutritional status of profoundly disabled children in order to start nutritional management when necessary.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Neurology and Rehabilitation Unit, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holenweg-Gross
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faouzi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Poirot-Hodgkinson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bérard
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roulet-Perez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: nutrition; profound and multiple disabilities; quality of life; undernutrition