Multicenter Analysis of Cardiometabolic-Related Diagnoses in Youth with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: a PEDSnet study

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 May 24:dgae362. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgae362. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Context: Small cohorts of youth with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) demonstrate increased risk of obesity and poor cardiometabolic health.

Objective: To determine the odds of cardiometabolic-related diagnoses in youth with CAH compared to matched controls in a cross-sectional analysis in a large, multisite database (PEDSnet).

Design: Electronic health record data (2009-2019) were used to determine odds of cardiometabolic-related outcomes based on diagnosis, anthropometric and laboratory data using logistic regression among youth with CAH vs. controls.

Setting: Six PEDSnet sites.

Patients or other participants: Youth with CAH and >1 outpatient visit in PEDSnet (n=1,647) were propensity-score matched on 8 variables to controls (n=6,588). A subset of youth with classic CAH (n=547, with glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid prescriptions) were matched to controls (n=2,188).

Intervention(s): N/A.

Main outcome measure(s): Odds of having cardiometabolic-related diagnoses among youth over 2 years with CAH compared to matched controls.

Results: Outcomes were calculated for all individuals with CAH (median age at last visit 12.9 years [7.3, 17.6]) and a subset with classic CAH (median age at last visit 11.6 years [4.7, 17.5]) compared to their matched controls. All patients with CAH had higher odds of overweight/obesity (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 3.63 [3.24,4.07]), hypertension (3.07 [2.60,3.64]), dysglycemia (1.95 [1.35,2.82], dyslipidemia (2.28 [1.79,2.91]) and liver dysfunction (2.30 [1.91,2.76]) compared to matched controls. Patients with classic CAH had higher odds of overweight/obesity (3.21 [2.61,3.93]), hypertension (8.22 [6.71,10.08]), and liver dysfunction (2.11 [1.55,2.89]) compared to matched controls.

Conclusions: Overall, youth with CAH are at increased risk of diagnoses related to worse cardiometabolic health.

Keywords: cardiometabolic; congenital adrenal hyperplasia; hypertension; obesity; overweight.