One hundred forty-four individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), 129 men and 15 women, were evaluated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess the risk factors of age, duration of injury, neurological deficit, and body mass index (BMI) on the bone mineral densities (BMD) of the lumbar spine, hip, and knee. The participants, ages 18 to 50 years old, were categorized into four neurological classifications: 37 with complete tetraplegia, 25 with incomplete tetraplegia, 57 with complete paraplegia, and 25 with incomplete paraplegia. The effects of risk factors at the regional sites of SCI osteoporosis can be summarized: BMI influences all sites especially the knee; neurologic deficit affects the hip and especially the knee; duration of injury positively influences the spine and negatively influences the hip and the knee to a lesser degree; and age negatively effects the hip.

absorptiometry, body mass index, bone mineral density, disuse, immobilization, osteoporosis, paraplegia, postmenopausal, spinal cord injury, tetraplegia
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