Cardiometabolic risk factors in Iranians with spinal cord injury: analysis by injury-related variables

Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) have a high prevalence of abnormalities in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. These abnormalities cause adverse coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with SCI. In this study, we performed a detailed analysis of the level-specific cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with SCI and analyzed the association of injury level on these risk factors. This was a cross-sectional study of 162 patients with SCI, assessing the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and smoking. Fasting blood sugar (>100) was diagnosed in 27 patients (16.7%). Of the total patients, 36 (22.2%) had a total cholesterol (TC) level of >200. A triglyceride level of >150 was present in 56 patients (34.6%). Hypertension was present in 2.5% of the entire patient group. Body mass index (BMI), TC, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly higher in the paraplegia group than the tetraplegia group (24.44 +/- 4.23 vs 22.65 +/- 4.27, p = 0.01; 185.71 +/- 40.69 vs 163.28 +/- 37.92, p < 0.001; and 102.51 +/- 28.20 vs 89.15 +/- 22.35, p = 0.01, respectively). Patients with paraplegia may have increased hypertension, higher BMI, and increasing levels of serum LDL-C and TC than those with tetraplegia. Conventional risk factors for CHD should be identified and treated in individuals with SCI.