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Obesity in wheelchair users with long-standing spinal cord injury: prevalence and associations with time since injury and physical activity

Spinal Cord (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Study design

Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the ALLRISC cohort study.

Objectives

To investigate the prevalence of obesity and its association with time since injury (TSI) and physical activity (PA) in wheelchair users with long-standing (TSI > 10 years) spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting

Community, The Netherlands.

Methods

Wheelchair users with SCI (N = 282) in TSI strata (10–19, 20–29, and ≥30 years) and divided in meeting SCI-specific exercise guidelines or not. Waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Participants were classified as being obese (WC > 102 cm for men, WC > 88 cm for women; BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) or not. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between obesity and TSI and PA.

Results

Almost half of the participants (45–47%) were classified as obese. TSI was significantly associated with obesity, the odds of being obese were 1.4 higher when having a 10 years longer TSI. Furthermore, the odds of being obese were 2.0 lower for participants who were meeting the exercise guidelines.

Conclusions

The prevalence of obesity is high in people with long-standing SCI. Those with a longer TSI and individuals who do not meet the exercise guidelines are more likely to be obese and need to be targeted for weight management interventions.

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Fig. 1: Prevalence of obesity based on BMI (left graph) and waist circumference (right graph).
Fig. 2: The prevalence of abdominal obesity (based on waist circumference) in men and women of the general Dutch population vs. men and women in our Dutch population with SCI.

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Data availability

Data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research collaboration is only possible with the strong involvement of eight SCI-specialized rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands and their dedicated physiatrists, research assistants, organizations and management: Heliomare (Wijk aan Zee), St Maartenskliniek (Nijmegen),‘tRoessingh (Enschede), Rijndam/EUR (Rotterdam), Reade (Amsterdam), De Hoogstraat (Utrecht), Adelante (Hoensbroek) and UMCG Centre for Rehabilitation, Location Beatrixoord (Haren).

Funding

ALLRISC is sponsored by “Fonds NutsOHRA” under the responsibility of the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (www.ZonMw.nl), Project number 89000006.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Marcel W. M. Post

    Present address: Centre of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center | Reade, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sonja de Groot

  2. Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sonja de Groot

  3. Reade, Center for Rehabilitation & Rheumatology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jacinthe J. E. Adriaansen

  4. Centre of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Janneke M. Stolwijk-Swüste

  5. Department of Spinal Cord Injury and Orthopedics, De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Janneke M. Stolwijk-Swüste

  6. Rijndam Rehabilitation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Rutger Osterthun

  7. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Rutger Osterthun & Rita J. G. van den Berg-Emons

  8. De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Marcel W. M. Post

  9. Centre for Rehabilitation, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Marcel W. M. Post

Authors
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Contributions

SdeG analyzed the data and wrote the final manuscript. JJEA wrote the study protocol, coordinated the data collection, and provided feedback on the manuscript. JMSS and RO contributed to the data collection and provided feedback on the manuscript. RJGBE provided feedback on the manuscript. MWMP obtained funding for the study and provided feedback on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonja de Groot.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The research protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the University Medical Center Utrecht (protocol number 11–156/E; NL36394.041.11, version 4). We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during the course of this research.

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de Groot, S., Adriaansen, J.J.E., Stolwijk-Swüste, J.M. et al. Obesity in wheelchair users with long-standing spinal cord injury: prevalence and associations with time since injury and physical activity. Spinal Cord (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-024-00995-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-024-00995-6

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