Frequency of Cardiometabolic Diseases and Medications in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Abstract Introduction/Objectives: Cerebral palsy (CP) patients may be at risk of obesity, but outcomes and risk factors are understudied. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the body mass index (BMI) types of CP patients and to evaluate the presence of cardiometabolic specific diseases and medications. We hypothesize CP subjects with an increased BMI have a higher frequency of cardiometabolic specific diseases and medications. Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study utilizing TriNetX ®, an electronic health record (EHR) database, in CP subjects aged 2 to 18 years who had a BMI value available. The study population was divided into 4 BMI percentile groups, underweight (<5th BMI percentile), healthy weight (≥5th to <85th percentile), overweight (≥85th to <95th percentile), and obese (≥95th percentile), and the following variables were evaluated: demographics, diagnostic codes, and medication codes. Results: A total of 5993 subjects were included [underweight (251, 4.2%), healthy weight (2390, 39.9%), overweight (943, 15.7%), and obese (2409, 40.2%)]. Obese subjects had a higher frequency of the following: asthma [811 (33.7%), p=0.0001], diabetes mellitus [102 (4.2%), p=0.0001], hypertension [213 (8.8%), p=0.0001], and sleep apnea [686 (28.5%), p=0.0001]. Overweight subjects had a higher frequency of spastic diplegic cerebral palsy [574 (60.9%), p=0.0001). Conclusions: This study found CP patients classified as obese had a higher frequency of cardiometabolic comorbidity and medication codes that influence weight. BMI measurements are limited in this population but may be used cautiously to evaluate the body type of CP children, and monitor the occurrence of cardiometabolic associated comorbidities.