Racial Differences in Weight Gain: a 5-year Longitudinal Study of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Publication date: Available online 14 December 2017
Source:Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Huacong Wen, Yuying Chen, Yin He, C. Scott Bickel, Susan Robinson-Whelen, Allen W. Heinemann
ObjectiveTo investigate racial differences in body mass index (BMI) change over 5 years among people with spinal cord injury (SCI).DesignMulticenter longitudinal studySetting11 SCI Model Systems centers in the United StatesParticipants437 individuals (313 non-Hispanic white, 81 non-Hispanic black and 43 Hispanic), who incurred a SCI 1974 to 2010 and completed 2 follow-up assessments within 5 years between October 2006 and September 2015. Of these 335 men and 102 women, the average age was 41 years (range: 18-78 years), and duration of injury was 9 years (range: 1-35 years) at the start of the 5-year follow-up.InterventionNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresBMI (kg/m²)ResultsThe average BMI of 437 participants increased from 26.4±6.3 kg/m² to 27.0±6.4 kg/m² over 5 years (P=.002). The greatest increase was noted for Hispanics (2.0±5.7 kg/m², P=.02), followed by non-Hispanic whites (0.6±3.9 kg/m², P=.01) and non-Hispanic blacks (0.01±3.7 kg/m², P=1.00). The differences in BMI increase across racial groups were significant (P=.03) among those with severe injuries, those who were underweight or of normal weight at baseline, and those within 10 years of their injury. Such racial differences remained significant after taking into account of demographic and injury characteristics.ConclusionsOur study findings provide a foundation for future research to explore risk and protective factors that contribute to racial differences in weight gain after SCI, which help alert health professionals to a high-risk group for obesity prevention and management.



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