Exercise Capacity in Pediatric Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Objective To examine exercise capacity in youth with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

Study design Eleven males and eight females with CD and six males and four females with UC participated. Patients performed standard exercise tests to assess peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) and peak aerobic mechanical power (W(peak)) and peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak)). Fitness variables were compared with reference data and also correlated with relevant clinical outcomes.

Results Pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease had lower PP (similar to 90% of predicted), MP (similar to 88% of predicted), W(peak) (similar to 91% of predicted), and VO(2peak) (similar to 75% of predicted) compared with reference values. When patients with CD or UC were compared separately to reference values, W(peak) was significantly lower only in the CD group. No statistically significant correlations were found between any exercise variables and disease duration (r = 0.01 to 0.14, P = .47 to .95) or disease activity (r = -0.19 to -0.31, P = .11 to .38), measured by pediatric CD activity index or pediatric ulcerative colitis activity index. After controlling for chronological age, recent hemoglobin levels were significantly correlated with PP (r = 0.45, P = .049), MP (r = 0.63, P = .003), VO(2peak) (r = 0.62, P = .004), and W(peak) (r = 0.70, P = .001).

Conclusions Pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease exhibit impaired aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity compared with reference values. (J Pediatr 2011; 158:814-9).