Metabolic Syndrome and Spinal Cord Injury: A 17-Year Longitudinal Study

Purpose: To describe the third of 3 research studies under the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Secondary Conditions in the Rehabilitation of Individuals with SCI. Methods: This a longitudinal follow-up to a portion of research conducted under the previously funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with SCI at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Previous research focused on risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and physiologic and serologic data were prospectively collected on 845 participants. Follow-up data on these 845 participants will be used to assess the natural progression of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in individuals with SCI. MetS has been shown to be associated with increased risk of CVD morbidity and mortality, and CVD risk measures can be combined to identify MetS. There is also evidence that MetS is elevated in persons with SCI, and they may have differential risk patterns of MetS compared to the general population. Risk and protective factors a...