City Research Online

Abstract

Rationale: Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) are increasingly recognised as a new risk group for cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to identify characteristics of patients with SCI that are associated with CVD risk factors within the first seven days of hospital admission.

Methods: Data were collected in 2017 from a UK SCI centre. CVD risk scores were calculated using the QRISK-2 scoring system, which categorised patients into low-, medium-, and high-risk groups. Patient characteristics included SCI-specific variables and biochemical measures.

Results: Data from 421 patients with SCI were analysed, though some variables had missing data. The majority of the patients were male (73.2 % of 414 patients), adults <65 y (73.9 % of 421 patients), caused by traumatic injury (67.8 % of 367 patients), without pressure ulcers (83.1 % of 260 patients), chronic onset (>180 days) (72.7 % of 421 patients), nourished (77.3 % of 150 patients), and having a serum 25(OH)D concentration < 50 nmol/L (56.3 % of 197 patients). Among 180 patients who had CVD risk scores, 55.6% were classified as having medium or high CVD risk. Serum albumin levels were significantly lower in the medium- and high-risk groups compared to the low-risk group (P=0.029 and P=0.025). C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly higher in the high-risk group compared to the low-risk group (P=0.026). The cholesterol/HDL ratio was significantly higher in both the medium- and high-risk groups compared to the low-risk group (P<0.001), and in the high-risk group compared to the medium-risk group (P<0.001). Among categorical variables, gender was the only factor significantly associated with CVD risk, with male patients showing a higher risk than females (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The associations between serum albumin, CRP, and CVD risk in patients with SCI warrant further investigation to explore potential causal relationships.
Disclosure of Interest: None declared

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	© 2026. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Department of Population Health & Policy
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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