Michael Trask, Scott Yang, Apeksha Gupta, Burt Yaszay, Jennifer M Bauer, Gregory Redding
{"title":"Body mass index adjustments in children with early onset scoliosis: arm span BMI.","authors":"Michael Trask, Scott Yang, Apeksha Gupta, Burt Yaszay, Jennifer M Bauer, Gregory Redding","doi":"10.1007/s43390-025-01056-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Body mass index (BMI), is a nutritional index based on standing height and weight. Children with early onset scoliosis (EOS) have shorter height due to their spine curvature. In these patients' pulmonary function tests, which are also based off height, arm span is standardly used as a surrogate for height to allow for normative comparisons. Arm span has not been used for nutritional assessments in children with EOS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used both arm span and measured height to calculate BMI, and BMI as a percent of predicted published norms (BMI%ile) to assess the error produced using height in this population of children. We used a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare standard height BMI (BMI) vs arm span BMI (asBMI) and BMI%iles, Spearman correlation to assess the influence of age or coronal curve angle on any differences, and an adjusted linear model for the coronal curve's impact on BMI.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>BMI and BMI%ile consistently over-estimated nutritional status compared to asBMI with substitution of arm span for height. 15.6% of patients had a BMI%ile of < 1% using height compared to 44.4% using arm span. The difference between BMI and asBMI correlated with the coronal curve magnitude but not with age. The adjusted linear model showed that for each degree of Cobb angle, the difference between BMI and asBMI increased by 0.0294 kg/m<sup>2</sup> (p = 0.0062).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Arm span BMI reveals lower, more accurate nutritional status in children with EOS than standard height BMI.</p><p><strong>Level of evidence: </strong>IV.</p>","PeriodicalId":21796,"journal":{"name":"Spine deformity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Spine deformity","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-025-01056-5","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Body mass index (BMI), is a nutritional index based on standing height and weight. Children with early onset scoliosis (EOS) have shorter height due to their spine curvature. In these patients' pulmonary function tests, which are also based off height, arm span is standardly used as a surrogate for height to allow for normative comparisons. Arm span has not been used for nutritional assessments in children with EOS.
Methods: We used both arm span and measured height to calculate BMI, and BMI as a percent of predicted published norms (BMI%ile) to assess the error produced using height in this population of children. We used a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare standard height BMI (BMI) vs arm span BMI (asBMI) and BMI%iles, Spearman correlation to assess the influence of age or coronal curve angle on any differences, and an adjusted linear model for the coronal curve's impact on BMI.
Results: BMI and BMI%ile consistently over-estimated nutritional status compared to asBMI with substitution of arm span for height. 15.6% of patients had a BMI%ile of < 1% using height compared to 44.4% using arm span. The difference between BMI and asBMI correlated with the coronal curve magnitude but not with age. The adjusted linear model showed that for each degree of Cobb angle, the difference between BMI and asBMI increased by 0.0294 kg/m2 (p = 0.0062).
Conclusion: Arm span BMI reveals lower, more accurate nutritional status in children with EOS than standard height BMI.
期刊介绍:
Spine Deformity the official journal of the?Scoliosis Research Society is a peer-refereed publication to disseminate knowledge on basic science and clinical research into the?etiology?biomechanics?treatment?methods and outcomes of all types of?spinal deformities. The international members of the Editorial Board provide a worldwide perspective for the journal's area of interest.The?journal?will enhance the mission of the Society which is to foster the optimal care of all patients with?spine?deformities worldwide. Articles published in?Spine Deformity?are Medline indexed in PubMed.? The journal publishes original articles in the form of clinical and basic research. Spine Deformity will only publish studies that have institutional review board (IRB) or similar ethics committee approval for human and animal studies and have strictly observed these guidelines. The minimum follow-up period for follow-up clinical studies is 24 months.