A guideline-driven assessment of need for cardiovascular disease risk intervention in persons with chronic paraplegia

OBJECTIVE: To examine percentages of persons with chronic paraplegia who qualify for lipid-lowering therapeutic lifestyle intervention (TLI) as assessed by authoritative guidelines. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-one subjects (mean age +/- standard deviation, 34+/-11 y) with motor-complete paraplegia (American Spinal Injury Association grade A or B) at T6-L1 levels for greater than 2 years. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentages of subjects qualifying for TLI were independently assessed and then compared using National Cholesterol Education Project Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) II (1994) and ATP III (2002) Guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 34.1% of subjects qualified for intervention based on the ATP II Guidelines and 63.4% based on ATP III (chi1(2) test=4.53; 2-tailed, P=.003). Seventy-six percent (31/41) of study participants had high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels below the high-risk criterion of 40 mg/dL established by ATP III. Almost one third of subjects had hypertension, and 34.1% satisfied criteria for diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of young, apparently healthy people with chronic paraplegia are at risk for cardiovascular disease and qualify for lipid-lowering TLI. Updated guidelines of the ATP III have increased the urgency for early risk assessment and intervention.