Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 27;26(1):85.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-024-08247-7.

Risk factors for growth retardation in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a case-control study

Ying Zhang  1 , Liping Song  1 , Weihu Ma  1 , Ye Wang  1 , Peipei Wang  1 , Xiaolin Zhang  2 , Zhe Zhang  1 , Yuan Zhang  1 , Qianhui Yu  1 , Yang Yu  1 , Lin Zhang  3
Affiliations

Risk factors for growth retardation in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a case-control study

Ying Zhang et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the role of various factors contributing to growth retardation, including nutritional intake, disease duration, and treatment history, and further identify key risk factors that may influence growth outcomes in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods: Clinical data from 155 JIA children who were treated at our hospital between January 2019 and December 2022 were analyzed. The children were divided into the growth retardation group (n = 40) and the non-growth retardation group (n = 115) based on the height Z-score < -2 SD or not. The two groups were compared based on their baseline characteristics, disease-related factors, dietary habits, lifestyle, and family background. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were employed to identify and assess the factors associated with growth retardation.

Results: Out of the 155 children, 40 (25.81%) were diagnosed with growth retardation. Children with growth retardation were more likely to have a disease duration ≥ 3 years (72.50% vs. 39.13%, P < 0.001), exercise time < 1 h/per day (68.50% vs. 33.04%, P < 0.001), glucocorticoid use (65.00% vs. 34.78%, P = 0.001), and active disease activity (72.50% vs. 37.39%, P < 0.001). These factors were identified as independent risk factors for growth retardation in multivariate analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) values for these factors ranged from 0.651 to 0.676, indicating moderate predictive accuracy. When considering all these factors together, the combined model demonstrated an AUC value of 0.702, suggesting a high predictive value.

Conclusion: The incidence of growth retardation in children with JIA is high, with factors such as disease duration, exercise time, GC treatment, clinic visits, picky eating, and disease activity contributing to its development. While each of these factors demonstrates moderate predictive value individually, their combined consideration significantly improves predictive accuracy.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

Keywords: Growth and development status; Growth retardation; Influencing factors; Juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics and consent to participate: This study was approved to the Ethics Committee of Hebei Medical University Third Hospital (W2021-042-1) in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Since this study is a retrospective analysis and the identification information of the patients and their families is anonymized, informed consent from the patients and their families is not required. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Incidence of growth retardation in children with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Joint risk prediction model
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Calibration curve of the joint prediction model
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Decision curve of the joint risk prediction model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Zaripova LN, Midgley A, Christmas SE, Beresford MW, Baildam EM, Oldershaw RA. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: from aetiopathogenesis to therapeutic approaches. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2021;19(1):135. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bansal N, Pasricha C, Kumari P, Jangra S, Kaur R, Singh R. A comprehensive overview of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: from pathophysiology to management. Autoimmun Rev. 2023;22(7):103337. - PubMed
    1. Schmidt C, Ertel T, Arbogast M, Hugle B, Kalle TV, Neff A, et al. The diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid and juvenile idiopathic arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2022;119(4):47–54. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schulert GS, Yasin S, Carey B, Chalk C, Do T, Schapiro AH, et al. Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-Associated Lung Disease: characterization and risk factors. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019;71(11):1943–54. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maccora I, Land P, Miraldi Utz V, Angeles-Han ST. Therapeutic potential of JAK inhibitors in juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2023;19(7):689–92. - PMC - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources