AN EXAMINATION OF OBESITY IN PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMOR SURVIVORS: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Carter, Ashley

dc.contributor.author	Carter, Ashley
dc.date.accessioned	2015-04-09T23:31:37Z	en
dc.date.available	2015-04-09T23:31:37Z	en
dc.date.issued	2015-04-09
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10150/528118
dc.description	A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.	en
dc.description.abstract	Background: Great strides have been made in childhood cancer treatment efficacy over the past two decades leading to improved survival rates, and now attention is being directed toward identifying and understanding complications that affect many of these patients as they reach adulthood. Obesity is a well‐recognized late effect that has many potential long‐term consequences some of which include cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and even death. Materials/Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review to determine the prevalence of obesity among survivors of pediatric brain tumors 5 years after the completion of therapy and compare this to the general pediatric population of the same age. We also sought to identify potential risk factors for the development of obesity among survivors of childhood brain tumors. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile for age and gender as defined by the most recent Center for Disease Control growth curves. Results: We identified 96 patients who met our inclusion criteria, however only 43 had follow‐up data at 5 years after the completion of therapy to be included in final analysis. Of 43 patients, 5 (11.63%) were obese 5 years after completion of therapy. The CDC sites general population obesity rates in three age groups: 2‐5 years (8.4% obesity rate), 6‐ 11 years (18% obesity rate), 12‐19 years (21% obesity rate). Using CDC guidelines, we found no significant difference between the obesity rate among the brain tumor survivor population for each age group and the general population, p‐values of 0.865, 0.865, and 0.249 respectively. Conclusion: Our small sample size was likely not adequate to find a significant difference between the two groups or identify risk factors associated with the development of obesity. Larger studies are needed to further examine the risk of obesity among pediatric brain tumor survivors and to identify risk factors associated with this late effect.
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dc.publisher	The University of Arizona.	en_US
dc.rights	Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the College of Medicine - Phoenix, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.	en_US
dc.subject	Pediatric Brain Tumor	en
dc.subject	Brain Tumor	en
dc.subject.mesh	Pediatrics	en
dc.subject.mesh	Brain Neoplasms	en
dc.subject.mesh	Survivors	en
dc.title	AN EXAMINATION OF OBESITY IN PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMOR SURVIVORS: FOOD FOR THOUGHT	en_US
dc.type	text; Electronic Thesis	en
dc.contributor.department	The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix	en
dc.description.collectioninformation	This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2015 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at pbc-library@email.arizona.edu.	en_US
dc.contributor.mentor	Rosenfeld, Amy	en
refterms.dateFOA	2018-08-15T06:14:45Z
html.description.abstract	Background: Great strides have been made in childhood cancer treatment efficacy over the past two decades leading to improved survival rates, and now attention is being directed toward identifying and understanding complications that affect many of these patients as they reach adulthood. Obesity is a well‐recognized late effect that has many potential long‐term consequences some of which include cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and even death. Materials/Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review to determine the prevalence of obesity among survivors of pediatric brain tumors 5 years after the completion of therapy and compare this to the general pediatric population of the same age. We also sought to identify potential risk factors for the development of obesity among survivors of childhood brain tumors. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile for age and gender as defined by the most recent Center for Disease Control growth curves. Results: We identified 96 patients who met our inclusion criteria, however only 43 had follow‐up data at 5 years after the completion of therapy to be included in final analysis. Of 43 patients, 5 (11.63%) were obese 5 years after completion of therapy. The CDC sites general population obesity rates in three age groups: 2‐5 years (8.4% obesity rate), 6‐ 11 years (18% obesity rate), 12‐19 years (21% obesity rate). Using CDC guidelines, we found no significant difference between the obesity rate among the brain tumor survivor population for each age group and the general population, p‐values of 0.865, 0.865, and 0.249 respectively. Conclusion: Our small sample size was likely not adequate to find a significant difference between the two groups or identify risk factors associated with the development of obesity. Larger studies are needed to further examine the risk of obesity among pediatric brain tumor survivors and to identify risk factors associated with this late effect.