Health Status of Children and Young Persons With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia in the United Kingdom: Results of a Multi-Center Cohort Study

Abstract

Introduction: The association between congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and increased morbidity and mortality in adult life has been well established, however, limited knowledge exists regarding the onset of co-morbidities during childhood. Objective: To establish the health status of children and young persons (CYP) with CAH in the United Kingdom. Methods: This cross-sectional multi-center study involved 14 tertiary endocrine units across the United Kingdom. We recruited 107 patients aged 8-18 years with 21-hydroxylase deficiency and 83 matched controls. We collected and analyzed demographic, clinical, and metabolic data, as well as psychological questionnaires (Strengths and Difficulties [SDQ], Paediatric Quality of Life [PedsQL]and Self-Image Profile [SIP]). Results: The majority of patients (62.2%) were diagnosed within the first month of life, most commonly presenting with ambiguous genitalia (32.7%) or salt losing crisis (25.2%). After diagnosis, 37.3% of patients required admission for adrenal crisis, 11.2% presenting three or more episodes. Of the female patients, 57.6% had undergone urogenital examination under anesthesia and 35.5% had genital surgery. Most CAH patients received glucocorticoid (GC) replacement therapy with hydrocortisone (HC) (94.3%) and the rest with prednisolone, with a mean for relative GC doses of 13.3 (±3.7) mg/m2 per day HC-equivalent. 76.6% of patients received treatment with fludrocortisone, with a mean dose of 105.0 (±50.2) µg/m2 per day. Comparing height-Standard Deviation Score (SDS), patients under 12 years were taller (p=0.011) and patients aged 12-18 years shorter (p=0.031) than controls. Bone age was advanced in patients, with a mean difference from the chronological age of 1.9 (±2.2) years. CAH patients were more frequently overweight (26.4%) or obese (22.6%) compared to controls (10.8% and 10.8% respectively, p<0.001). Five patients had high blood pressure. A small number of patients had abnormal lipid profiles: raised total cholesterol (7%), low HDL (13%), raised LDL (4%) and triglycerides (15%). Insulin resistance as defined by HOMA-IR was found in 53.8% of patients with CAH, which was comparable to healthy controls (56.3%). 15.8% of patients had SDQ scores within the “high” and “very high” categories of concern. In the PedsQL questionnaires, ‘school functioning’ was the lowest scoring dimension with a median (IQR) of 70 (55 - 80), followed by ‘emotional functioning’ with a median score of 75 (65 - 85). The SIP scores were comparable to normative values, for all age and gender groups. Conclusion: Children with CAH have increased prevalence of growth and weight gain problems, metabolic co-morbidities, as well as reduced quality of life and mental wellbeing. There is a pressing need to optimize management and monitoring strategies in CYP with CAH order to improve long-term health outcomes.