Excess weight gain in the paediatric bleeding disorders population: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lifestyle changes for children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on weight/BMI in children with severe bleeding disorders.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of patients age 3-18 years with severe bleeding disorders on prophylactic therapy treated at SickKids Hospital (Toronto, Canada) between February 01, 2018 and March 31, 2021. We evaluated the following pre- and post-COVID variables: weight (kg), weight percentile, BMI (kg/m ), BMI percentile, HJHS score, and prophylactic dosing (units/kg).

RESULTS

One hundred and four patients were included in the final analysis. Diagnoses were as follows:  haemophilia A (n = 92; 70.8%), haemophilia B (n = 17; 13.1%), type 3 von Willebrand disease (n = 11; 8.5%), the remainder were diagnosed with rare factor deficiencies.  Median interval time from pre-COVID measurements to latest follow-up was 12.4 months (IQR 10.32-14.52 months) during which there was a statistically significant increase in median weight percentile +5.75 centiles (from 63 centile to 68.75 centile). There was a statistically significant increase in mean BMI of +1.03 kg/m (P = < .001) while median BMI percentile increased +8.82 centiles (from 53.9 centile to 62.72 centile) and mean BMI percentile increased 3.42 centiles (from 57.5 centile to 60.9 centile). The group that gained the most weight centiles, BMI and BMI centiles were 5-14 years old.

CONCLUSION

There was a trend to weight gain over the study period. More long-term data is required to evaluate the impact of this increase in weight and BMI on children with bleeding disorders.