Nutritional status and clinical characteristics in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: 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).

CONCLUSION

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.