Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Low Bone Mineral Density in Children With Celiac Disease

Celiac disease can reduce bone mineral density. We sought to determine the prevalence and risk factors for low areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in children with celiac disease.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 673 children with celiac disease (63% female; median age at diagnosis, 10.6 y; interquartile range, 7.8-13.9) who underwent dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) from 2009 through 2016 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We collected demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from medical records. We performed logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with low (Z less than -2) lumbar spine aBMD Z (aBMD-Z) scores at initial and subsequent tests.

The time between diagnosis of celiac disease and first DXA was 0 days (interquartile range, -11 to 31 d). The mean aBMD-Z score at the children's initial scan was -0.4 ± 1.2; 46 children had aBMD-Z scores less than -2 (6.8%; 95% CI, 5.2%-9.0%). Those who had a second DXA analysis (n = 108; 16.0%) had a significant increase in aBMD-Z score (mean change, 0.29; P = .0005). Higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with lower odds of a low aBMD-Z score at the initial DXA analysis (odds ratio, 0.46, 95% CI, 0.35-0.50). BMI-Z scores greater than -0.4 identified children with a low aBMD-Z at their initial DXA analysis with a 95% negative predictive value.

Approximately 7% of subjects with celiac disease had a low aBMD-Z score, determined by DXA, at the time of diagnosis; this value was nearly 3-fold higher than expected from a population of children of this age and sex distribution. BMI-Z scores could be used to identify children with celiac disease at risk for low BMD who should receive DXA screening.