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Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

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Height status matters for risk of mortality in critically ill children

Nobuyuki Nosaka1, Tatsuhiko Anzai2, Kenji Wakabayashi3

  • 1Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan. nnosaka.ccm@tmd.ac.jp.

Journal of Intensive Care
|October 30, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Critically ill children with short stature face higher ICU mortality and longer hospital stays. This study highlights the importance of considering height in pediatric intensive care risk assessments to improve patient outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Clinical Pediatrics
  • Growth and Development Studies

Background:

  • Anthropometric measurements are vital in pediatric critical care.
  • The impact of short stature on pediatric ICU outcomes remains underexplored.
  • Previous research suggests short stature is linked to adverse clinical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between short stature and outcomes in pediatric intensive care.
  • To determine if short stature is an independent risk factor for mortality and prolonged ICU stay.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study utilizing the Japanese Intensive Care Patient Database (JIPAD).
  • Included pediatric patients (<16 years) admitted to ICUs between April 2015 and March 2020.
  • Defined short stature as height SD score < -2; analyzed ICU mortality and length of stay.

Main Results:

  • 27.2% of 6,377 pediatric ICU patients had short stature.
  • Short stature group showed significantly higher ICU mortality (3.6% vs. 1.4%, p<0.01).
  • Short stature independently predicted increased ICU mortality (OR 2.73) and longer ICU stay (HR 0.85 per day).

Conclusions:

  • Short stature is a significant risk factor for critically ill children in the ICU.
  • It is associated with increased mortality and prolonged ICU length of stay.
  • Height assessment should be integrated into risk stratification and management strategies for pediatric intensive care.
Abstract

Keywords:
Length of stayMortalityPediatric critical careStature

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