[Analysis of nutritional status of male children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy]

Objective: To analyze the nutritional status of male children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Methods: The male children aged 5-16 years old who were diagnosed with DMD at West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University from August 2023 to August 2024 were retrospectively included (DMD group). The healthy male children of the same age in the same period were classified as the control group. According to age, the two groups were divided into four age groups: 5-7, 7-9, 9-13, and 13-16 years old. General information and body composition analysis data [such as skeletal muscle mass (SMM), body fat, body fat percentage, visceral fat area (VFA), etc.] were collected, and the age-specific height Z-score (HAZ) and age-specific body mass index Z-score (BAZ) of the study subjects were calculated to detect body composition; The differences in general information, Z-score, and body composition analysis indicators were compared between two groups, and the Z-score results, correlation between body composition indicators and age, and differences in body composition indicators between different age groups were also compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 173 children were included, with 92 in the DMD group, aged (9.2±2.5) years and 81 in the control group, aged (9.5±2.6) years. The height [M(Q₁, Q₃)] [124 (113, 131) vs 133 (124, 145) cm], weight [28 (22, 33) vs 31 (24, 40) kg], and HAZ [-1.75 (-2.55, -1.10) vs -0.50 (-0.86, 0.08)] of the DMD group were lower than those of the control group, while the body mass index (BMI) [18 (16, 20) vs 17 (15, 19) kg/m²] and BAZ [1.12 (0.33, 1.65) vs 0.21 (-0.73, 0.95)] were higher than those of the control group (all P<0.05); The incidence of growth retardation [42.4% (39/92) vs 1.2% (1/81)], overweight [35.9% (33/92) vs 21.0% (17/81)], obesity [16.3% (15/92) vs 3.7% (3/81)], and malnutrition [75.0% (69/92) vs 30.9% (25/81)] were all higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). There was statistically significant difference in the incidence of growth retardation among different age groups in the DMD group (both P=0.021). The SMM [9 (8, 10) vs 13 (10, 16) kg] of DMD patients was lower than that of the control group, while body fat [8 (5, 13) vs 4 (3, 7) kg], body fat percentage [29% (23%, 37%) vs 15% (11%, 21%)], and VFA [42 (28, 81) vs 19 (13, 26) cm²] were all higher than those of the control group (all P<0.001). The age of DMD group showed a strong positive correlation with VFA (r=0.70), and a moderate positive correlation with body fat (r=0.68), SMM (r=0.68), and body fat percentage (r=0.55) (all P<0.001); The age of the control group showed a strong positive correlation with SMM (r=0.89), a weak positive correlation with body fat (r=0.37) and VFA (r=0.24) (both P<0.05), and no correlation with body fat percentage (P=0.279). The SMM of all age groups in the DMD group was lower than that of the control group, while body fat, body fat percentage, and VFA were higher than those of the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusions: DMD patients are accompanied with growth retardation and overweight (obesity); Its body composition has low SMM, high body fat, body fat percentage, and VFA; The incidence of growth retardation varies among different age groups.