Background: Patients with Cystic Fibrosis in young ages are more prone to suffer from delayed growth, and should consume 50% more calories and more fat than recommended for healthy children. It is known that patietns with bigher BMI have higher lung function. In this retrospective research, we analyzed t relation between the severity of the pulmonary disease and their childhood`s nutritional deficits in CF patients’ population in Israel. Our database includes older patients, allowing us to examine the relationship throughout a relatively long period. To our knowledge, this is the first study ever to explore the long-term relations between the two.
Objective: Examine whether there is a correlation between patient’ BMI in young ages and lung function in young adulthood and later in life.
Design: Data from the 1970-2017 CF Patient Registry, located in Sheba hospital’s archive, was analyzed by using the following statistical tests: T Test, ANOVA, Chi-squared test, Pearson correlation coefficient and Linear regression. The data that was collected includes BMI, lung function tests, sex, age, comorbidities and sputum cultures.
Results: We found a positive linear correlation between patients’ BMI at the age of 10 years and FEV1 values at the ages of 20 (R2=0.198), 25 (R2=0.199) and 30 (R2=0.191).
Discussion: The positive correlation we found between BMI at the age of 10 years and FEV1 later in life, although weak, reflects the importance of aggressive nutritional therapy for CF patients’ in young ages.
Key words: Cystic Fibrosis, Nutritional status, BMI, Lung functions, FEV1, Pediatric respiratory disease
