TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationships between cardiovascular disease risk, neuropathic pain, mental health, and autonomic function in chronic spinal cord injury
AU - Dorton, Matthew C.
AU - Kramer, John K.
AU - de Groot, Sonja
AU - Post, Marcel W.M.
AU - Claydon, Victoria E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Spinal Cord Society.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Study design: Multicentre, cross-sectional study. Objectives: To determine if clinical measures of poor mental health (MH-) and neuropathic pain (NP) are related to increased CVD risk in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), and further elucidate the relationships between CVD risk, autonomic function, NP, and MH-. Setting: Eight SCI rehabilitation centres in the Netherlands. Methods: Individuals (n = 257) with a traumatic, chronic (≥10 yrs) SCI, with age at injury between 18–35 years, completed a self-report questionnaire and a one-day visit to a rehabilitation centre for testing. CVD risk was calculated using Framingham risk score. NP was inferred using The Douleur Neuropathique 4 clinical examination, and MH- was assessed using the five-item Mental Health Inventory questionnaire. Cardiovascular autonomic function was determined from peak heart rate during maximal exercise (HRpeak). Results: There was a high prevalence of both NP (39%) and MH- (45%) following SCI. MH- was significantly correlated with an adverse CVD risk profile (r = 0.174; p = 0.01), increased the odds of adverse 30-year CVD risk by 2.2 (CI 0.92–2.81, p = 0.02), and is an important variable in determining CVD risk (importance=0.74, p = 0.05). Females (p = 0.05) and those with a higher HRpeak (p = 0.046) tended to be more likely to have NP. Conclusions: Clinical measures of MH-, but not NP, are important factors for increased CVD risk following SCI. NP tended to be more prevalent in those with more preserved cardiovascular autonomic function. The interrelationships between secondary consequences of SCI are complex and need further exploration.
AB - Study design: Multicentre, cross-sectional study. Objectives: To determine if clinical measures of poor mental health (MH-) and neuropathic pain (NP) are related to increased CVD risk in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), and further elucidate the relationships between CVD risk, autonomic function, NP, and MH-. Setting: Eight SCI rehabilitation centres in the Netherlands. Methods: Individuals (n = 257) with a traumatic, chronic (≥10 yrs) SCI, with age at injury between 18–35 years, completed a self-report questionnaire and a one-day visit to a rehabilitation centre for testing. CVD risk was calculated using Framingham risk score. NP was inferred using The Douleur Neuropathique 4 clinical examination, and MH- was assessed using the five-item Mental Health Inventory questionnaire. Cardiovascular autonomic function was determined from peak heart rate during maximal exercise (HRpeak). Results: There was a high prevalence of both NP (39%) and MH- (45%) following SCI. MH- was significantly correlated with an adverse CVD risk profile (r = 0.174; p = 0.01), increased the odds of adverse 30-year CVD risk by 2.2 (CI 0.92–2.81, p = 0.02), and is an important variable in determining CVD risk (importance=0.74, p = 0.05). Females (p = 0.05) and those with a higher HRpeak (p = 0.046) tended to be more likely to have NP. Conclusions: Clinical measures of MH-, but not NP, are important factors for increased CVD risk following SCI. NP tended to be more prevalent in those with more preserved cardiovascular autonomic function. The interrelationships between secondary consequences of SCI are complex and need further exploration.
KW - Cardiovascular diseases
KW - Lifestyle modification
KW - Quality of life
KW - Risk factors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85172098904&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41393-023-00933-y
DO - 10.1038/s41393-023-00933-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 37749189
AN - SCOPUS:85172098904
SN - 1362-4393
VL - 61
SP - 548
EP - 555
JO - Spinal Cord
JF - Spinal Cord
IS - 10
ER -