Abstract
Objective
To determine whether regular performance of adapted sports is associated with long-term
changes in carotid atherosclerosis in subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design
Prospective observational study.
Setting
Academic medical center.
Participants
Men with chronic (>1y) SCI and no preserved motor function below the injury level
were evaluated in 2007 and 2012 (N=17). Nine subjects did not perform physical activity
between the studied time points (control group), whereas 8 subjects entered competitive
upper-body sports programs (rugby: n=5, basketball: n=1, jiu-jitsu: n=1, and tennis:
n=1) after baseline and were regularly training at the time of the second evaluation
(sports group).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Clinical, laboratory, hemodynamic, and carotid ultrasonography analysis.
Results
The studied groups showed no differences in all studied variables at baseline. After
5 years of follow-up, the control group showed increases in heart rate (87.0±3.1 vs
74.7±3.8 beats per minute; P=.004), but the participants had no significant changes in carotid intima-media thickness
(IMT) (.65±.05 vs .67±.03mm; P=.73) or IMT/diameter (.118±.007 vs .136±.013; P=.24). In contrast, the sports group showed long-term decreases in carotid IMT (.56±.05
vs .74±.05mm; P=.001) and IMT/diameter (.097±.006 vs .141±.009; P<.001), but the participants did not show any variation in the other studied variables
at follow-up.
Conclusions
Regular upper-body sports activities are associated with long-term reductions in carotid
atherosclerosis in subjects with SCI and might be a potential prevention strategy
aiming to reduce cardiovascular risk in this population.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
IMT (intima-media thickness), SCI (spinal cord injury)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 25, 2015
Footnotes
Supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (grant nos. 476909/2012-0 and 304245/2013-5), Brazil.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
