Correlates of a Single-Item Quality-of-Life Measure in People Aging with Disabilities.

Objective: Practical quality-of-life (QOL) screening methods are needed to help focus clinical decision-making on what matters to individuals with disabilities.

Design: A secondary analysis of a database from a large study of adults aging with impairments focused on four diagnostic groups: cerebral palsy (n = 134), polio (n = 321), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 99), and stroke (n = 82). Approximately 20% of cases were repeated measures of the same individuals 3-5 yrs later.

Cardiometabolic changes and disparities among persons with spinal cord injury: a 17-year cohort study.

Background: Cardiometabolic syndrome in individuals who are aging with spinal cord injury (SCI) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Longitudinal research is needed on the natural progression of cardiometabolic syndrome in SCI.

Objective: To identify the magnitude of changes in biomarkers of cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes over time in people aging with SCI, and to discern how these biomarkers relate to demographics of race/ethnicity and sex.

Predictors of subclinical atherosclerosis in women with spinal cord injury.

Background: Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with an increase in risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In the general population, atherosclerosis in women occurs later than in men and usually presents differently. Associations between risk factors and incidence of CVD have not been studied in women with SCI.

Effects of reduction in shoulder pain on quality of life and community activities among people living long-term with SCI paraplegia: a randomized control trial.

Objective/background: People with spinal cord injury (SCI) paraplegia can develop shoulder problems over time, which may also cause pain. Shoulder pain may complicate or interfere with a person's daily activities, social events, and their overall quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this study was to examine changes in social interaction and QOL after an exercise treatment for shoulder pain in people with SCI paraplegia.

Effects of assistive technology on functional decline in people aging with a disability.

This study used a randomized control group design to investigate the impact of an assistive technology and home modification intervention on function for individuals who are aging with a disability. There were 91 participants with polio, rheumatoid arthritis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, stroke, and other impairments. Outcome data were collected at 12 and 24 months through in-home interviews using the Older Americans Resources and Services Instrument (OARS) and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and through monthly telephone contact on the hours of in-home care, hospitalizations, and acquisition of AT.

Disparities in subjective well-being, participation, and health after spinal cord injury: a 6-year longitudinal study.

Objective: To identify disparities and changes in subjective well-being, participation, and health over a 6-year period as a function of race-ethnicity and gender in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Stratified sampling was used to maximize inclusion of women and racial-ethnic minorities. Three model SCI systems participated, representing the Southeastern, Western, and Mountain regions of the United States.

Five-year longitudinal bone evaluations in individuals with chronic complete spinal cord injury.

Background/objectives: Knowledge of spinal cord injury (SCI) bone changes has been derived primarily through cross-sectional studies, many of which are controvertible. Longitudinal studies are sparse, and long-term longitudinal chronic studies are unavailable. The objective of this study was to provide a clearer perception of chronic longitudinal bone variations in people with complete SCI.

Aging with spinal cord injury: changes in selected health indices and life satisfaction.

Objectives: To document the impact of age, age at injury, years postinjury, and injury severity on changes over time in selected physical and psychosocial outcomes of people aging with spinal cord injury (SCI), and to identify the best predictors of these outcomes.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional and longitudinal examination of people with SCI.

Setting: Follow-up of people who received initial rehabilitation in a regional Model Spinal Cord Injury System.

Bone loss at the os calcis compared with bone loss at the knee in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background/objective: The objective of this study was to document acute bone loss at the os calcis and compare it with bone loss at the knee following spinal cord injury (SCI) as a potential proxy for bone loss in individuals with SCI.

Methods: Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) at the knee and os calcis, which also was assessed by ultrasound in 6 individuals--5 with complete SCI and 1 with incomplete SCI--at means of 33.5 and 523 days following injury.

Risk factors for osteoporosis at the knee in the spinal cord injury population.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors for bone loss at the knee in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) by examining known risk factors for osteoporosis in the general population and additional, unique nonmodifiable SCI elements including age at injury onset, injury duration, and extent of neurologic injury (level and completeness).

Methods: Risk factors were examined by logistic regression in 152 individuals with chronic SCI. Knees were classified as osteoporotic based on whether bone mineral density (BMD) of the knee as assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry fell within the 95% confidence interval of the BMD of the knee of individuals who had experienced fractures at the knee.

Treatment of major depression in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of treating major depression in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), focusing on the degree of improvement and correlated changes that could be expected in 6 months of treatment.

Design: A pretreatment-posttreatment design was used. Random assignment to a nontreatment group could not be implemented ethically.

Research and interpretation perspectives on aging related physical morbidity with spinal cord injury and brief review of systems.

There are number of perspectives associated with the scientific study and interpretation of aging in the general population that also relate to the study of aging with spinal cord injury (SCI). These include era and survivor effects and have implications for design, analysis and interpretation of SCI aging research, which, in turn, have implications for planning, policy and clinical practice. Several factors specifically related to SCI also have implications for design, analysis and interpretation of SCI aging research.

Factors influencing body composition in persons with spinal cord injury: a cross-sectional study.

To determine the body composition differences across age, 133 men with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) (66 with tetraplegia, 67 with paraplegia) were compared with an age-, height-, and ethnicity-matched able-bodied male reference population (n = 100) using two different dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry densitometers. The effects of duration of injury, level, and completeness of lesion were analyzed in the SCI population. Independent of age, total body and regional lean mass were lower and fat mass was higher in persons with SCI compared with controls.

Smoking and obstructive lung dysfunction in persons with chronic spinal cord injury.

Background: Persons with higher-level spinal cord injury (SCI) have reduced vital capacity and increased risk of respiratory symptoms and illness, with smokers experiencing excess vital capacity losses. To date, obstructive lung dysfunction, the most prominent effect of smoking in the able-bodied population, has not been characterized in persons with SCI.

Objective: To determine whether smokers and/or nonsmokers with SCI are at increased risk to develop obstructive lung dysfunction, as measured by the ratio of forced expired volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC).

Prevalence of hepatitis C infection in a large urban hospital-based sample of individuals with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of hepatitis C infection in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Retrospective case survey.

Setting: Outpatient clinic devoted to SCI follow-up care located in a county-government rehabilitation center.

Incidence and clinical correlates of increased serum creatine kinase levels in persons with spinal cord injury.

Background: Elevated plasma levels of creatine kinase (CPK) are found in various neuromuscular conditions as a result of muscle damage and necrosis. Elevated CPK has also been described in elite wheelchair athletes and in able-bodied individuals after strenuous exercise.

Methods: The incidence of elevated CPK in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) has not been well established.