Nutritional status as marker for disease activity and severity predicting mortality in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To assess and analyse nutritional status in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and identify possible associations with clinical symptoms and its prognostic value.

Methods: Body mass index (BMI) and parameters of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) were assessed in 124 patients with SSc and 295 healthy donors and matched for sex, age and BMI for comparisons. In patients with SSc, BMI and BIA values were compared with clinical symptoms in a cross-sectional study.