Original articleMales Aging With a Spinal Cord Injury: Prevalence of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Conditions
Section snippets
Design
Primary data were collected by using a cross-sectional survey mailed to veterans with SCI. The survey was composed of questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. Secondary data from the same period were downloaded from the national CDC BRFSS survey database to provide data for the general veteran population and general population comparison groups. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at
Results
The response rate for the SCD-HCQ was 50% (3890 veterans with SCI completed surveys, of 7715 to whom they were distributed). The denominator was adjusted by using an undeliverable rate of 25%, consistent with previous mailings in a similar cohort of veterans with SCI.21 Of 3890 veterans with SCI who responded, exclusions included 304 women, 2350 younger than 65 years, and 442 who were injured less than 20 years. The total number of veterans with SCI included in this report was 794. A total of
Discussion
Researchers are in general agreement that individuals with SCI show atypical aging. Medical and functional changes associated with aging have occurred at an earlier age than in the able-bodied population, and SCI-specific aging changes often may be attributed to the unique physical characteristics of this population.5, 6, 22
Conclusions
As individuals with SCI survive into older ages, many are living with chronic conditions, including conditions of the cardiovascular and metabolic systems, which may have higher prevalences or premature onset. Findings of this study suggest that older adult men with SCI are similar to other older adult men in the prevalence of many cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. Although there was no consistent pattern of cardiovascular and metabolic prevalence in persons with SCI in this study, these
Acknowledgment
We thank the Paralyzed Veterans of America for distributing this survey to their membership.
References (50)
- et al.
Aging with spinal cord injury
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am
(2010) - et al.
Inflammatory C-reactive protein and cytokine levels in asymptomatic people with chronic spinal cord injury
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(2005) - et al.
Aging with spinal cord injury
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am
(2010) - et al.
Visceral adiposity and its anatomical distribution as predictors the metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factor levels
Am J Clin Nutr
(2008) - et al.
Risk of stroke, heart attack, and diabetes complications among Veterans in spinal cord injury
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(2008) - et al.
Cardiac stress testing with thallium-201 imaging reveals silent ischemia in individuals with paraplegia
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(1994) Cardiovascular disease in persons with spinal cord dysfunction—an update on select topics
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am
(2009)- et al.
Lack of neuroprotective effects of simvastatin and minocycline in a model of cervical spinal cord injury
Exp Neurol
(2010) A profile of older Americans: 2009
(2009)- et al.
Selected medical management of the older rehabilitative patient
Arch Phys Med Rehab
(2004)
Aging and spinal cord injury: medical, functional, and psychosocial changes
SCI Nurs
A 25-year longitudinal study of the natural course of aging after spinal cord injury
Spinal Cord
Understanding age effects associated with changes in secondary health conditions in a Canadian spinal cord injury cohort
Spinal Cord
Increased cardiovascular disease risk in Swedish persons with paraplegia: the Stockholm spinal cord injury study
J Rehabil Med
Aging with spinal cord injury
Standardized indices of mortality among persons with spinal cord injury: accelerated aging process
Ind Health
The self-identified long-term care needs of persons with SCI
SCI Psychosoc Process
The relationship between neurologic level of injury and symptomatic cardiovascular disease risk in the aging spinal injured
Spinal Cord
Handbook 1176.1
Major medical conditions and VA healthcare costs near end of life for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders
J Rehabil Res Dev
Spinal cord injury: facts and figures at a glance
State-and sex-specific prevalence of selected characteristics—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1994 and 1995
MMWR CDC Surveill Summ
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey questionnaire
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data
Technical documents and survey data: BRFSS weighting formula
Cited by (0)
This material is based on work supported by the Spinal Cord Injury Quality Enhancement Research Initiative and the Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs. This paper reflects the authors' opinions and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.