Kidney Disease as a Predictor of Mortality in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Background The purpose of this study is to assess the predictive value of proteinuria and creatinine clearance (CrCl) in relation to mortality in patients with spinal cord injury. Methods Computerized medical records covering 6 to 11 years were reviewed in 2004 to determine all-cause mortality. Long-term survival was assessed by means of Kaplan-Meier analysis. Multiple and stepwise Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify risk factors for mortality. The dependent variable was duration of survival in months. Potential predictors included proteinuria, CrCl, age, duration and type of injury, type of bladder management, ethnicity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, hematocrit, serum albumin level, and serum cholesterol level. Results With the Cox model, proteinuria with protein of 500 mg/d or greater (hazard ratio [HR], 2.98), CrCl less than 60 mL/min (