Project Type
modular
Project Lead Center
South Florida SCIMS
Project Start Date
09/01/2021
Project End Date
08/31/2026
Participating Centers
National Capital Spinal Cord Injury Model System
Minnesota Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System
Baylor Scott and White Spinal Cord Injury Model System
Virginia Consortium for SCI Care

Past studies have identified excessive cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk after SCI. In the 2016-2021 SCIMS cycle, four SCIMS centers led by the SFSCIMS: 1) explored early CMD risks and 2) examined whether SCI stakeholders were aware of these risks. Our first manuscript reported a daunting 74% of subjects were obese within two months of SCI vs. 38.5% of controls (p0.05). We reported insulin resistance (IR) in 37.5% of SCI subjects, while 31.6% of SCI subjects had ≥3 CMD risk determinants - 40.7% higher than controls (p0.05). Other findings forecasted excessive risk for heart attack and stroke. Only 23/197 measured CMD risk factors had been shared by their healthcare team (p 0.0001), with substantial disagreement between participant recall of CMD risks and clinical testing. None of the subjects reportedly received lifestyle recommendations for risk mitigation, and only 1/125 received appropriate (i.e., onlabel) medications for risks. Hence, our overarching goal is to build on these findings, address unanswered questions, and create a stakeholder-validated and clinically-tested education module to mitigate these disturbing risks and findings.