6 Minute Push and 30 Second Sprint Tests Reliability and Relationship to Fitness, Participation, and Environmental Assessments

Purpose:

To assess the relationship between physical fitness and wheelchair mobility capacity and 1) participation; 2) self-reported environments barriers; and 3) self-reported avoidance of environmental features.

Criteria:

Any cause or severity of spinal cord paralysis; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury; able to self-propel a manual wheelchair.

Duration:

4 laboratory visits over a 21 day period.

Principal Investigator:

Mark S Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

Patricia Burns, Rachel Cowan

6 Minute Propulsion Test Sensitivity to Increased Aerobic Capacity

Purpose:

To assess if distance travelled in 6 minutes of wheelchair propulsion changes after an increase in aerobic capacity and to explore the correlation between 6MPT distance and handicap, depression, wheelchair satisfaction, and self-reported avoidance of environmental features.

Criteria:

T1 or lower injury; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury; able to self-propel a manual wheelchair; enrolled in study 6 below.

Duration:

4 laboratory visits over a 9 month period.

Principal Investigator:

Mark S Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

Patricia Burns

Acute Tendon and Nerve Responses to Exercise

Purpose:

To use ultrasound to analyze the effects of a bout of circuit training on the upper extremity of persons with SCI and able-bodied controls.

Criteria:

Any cause, level, or severity of spinal cord paralysis; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

1 laboratory visit for four hours.

Principal Investigator:

Mark S Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

Luisa Betancourt
 

Effects of Salsalate on Prandial-Induced Vascular Inflammation After SCI

Purpose:

To determine if : 1) persons with SCI having elevated body mass are at greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk for fasting and postprandial lipidemia, glycemia, and vascular inflammation than persons with SCI having ‘normal’ body mass, and 2) an inexpensive, low-risk, widely-available pharmacotherapy safely reduces CVD risks associated with fasting and postprandial lipidemia, glycemia, and vascular inflammation.

Criteria:

Any C3-C7 spinal injury; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

 4 months total

Principal Investigator:

 Mark S Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

 Luisa Betancourt
 

Exercise Treatment of Obesity-Related Secondary Conditions in Adults with Paraplegia.

Purpose:

To determine how exercise plus drinking a protein and carbohydrate (sugar) shake affects physical fitness, risks for heart and vascular disease, the body's ability to burn fat, and your opinions about your health.

Criteria:

Any T1 or lower spinal injury;≥ 18years old; ≥ 1 year post-injury.

Duration:

 9 months total

Principal Investigator:

 Mark S Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

 Patricia Burns

Wheelchair Propulsion Function and Physical Capacity in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose:

 To assess the test-retest reliability of a modification of existing wheelchair propulsion assessment and to validate the modification against traditional measures of physical strength, power, and endurance in a group of persons with SCI.

Criteria:

Any cause, level, or severity of spinal cord paralysis; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury; able to self-propel a manual wheelchair.

Duration:

5-7 laboratory visits over a 6-8 week period

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, Ph.D.

Contact:

Rachel Cowan

Cardiometabolic Risk, Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose:

To develop and field-test new tools for diagnosis and hazard assessment of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) in people with chronic SCI and to advance the evidence base with much needed information on CMR and CVD burden in people with SCI. These data can be used to develop screening guidelines for early identification and prevention of CMR in SCI, as well as targeted approaches to primary disease management

Criteria:

Motor complete, C4-T12, traumatic spinal injury; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

2 laboratory visits over a 1 month period.

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, Ph.D.

Contact:

Kelly Ginnity
 

Effect of Omega-3 Supplement Intervention Program on Cardiometabolic Health in People with  Spinal Cord Injury.

Purpose:

To determine whether individuals with chronic SCI having multiple CMR factors will benefit from dietary supplement with ω-3 fatty acids.

Criteria:

Motor complete, C4-T12, traumatic spinal injury; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury; enrolled in study 8 above.

Duration:

4 months total.

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, Ph.D.

Contact:

Kelly Ginnity
 

Obesity/Overweight in Persons with Early and Chronic SCI:  A Randomized Multi-Center Controlled Lifestyle Intervention

Purpose:

To determine how exercise and nutritional guidance and supplementation affects your physical fitness, risk for heart disease, your body’s ability to burn fat, and your opinions about your health.

Criteria:

Motor complete or incomplete, C5-L1, traumatic spinal injury; ≥18 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

18 months total.

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, Ph.D.

Contact:

Gregory Bigford
 

Fertility Evaluation 

Purpose:

To determine the cause of low sperm motility in men with SCI.

Criteria:

Men; between 18- 45 years old; all levels of injury

Duration:

Visit laboratory about once a month for 1 to 6 months.

Principal Investigator:

Nancy Brackett, Ph.D., HCLD

Contact:

Sonny Aballa

Influence of Sensory Input on Spasticity and Walking Function in Individuals with SCI

Purpose:

To investigate whether standing with stimulation or with vibration influences the gains made with locomotor training

Criteria:

Any cause, level, or severity of spinal cord paralysis; 18-65 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.5

Duration:

Visit laboratory for 1-hour sessions 5 days per week for 2 weeks, then 2-hour sessions 3 days per week for 4 weeks.

Principal Investigator:

Edelle Field-Fote, Ph.D., PT

Contact:

Joyce Gomes

Improving Hand and Arm Function in Individuals with Incomplete SCI

Purpose:

To investigate whether massed practice combined with electrical stimulation, electrical stimulation alone, or weight training produce improvements in pinch strength and upper extremity function in people with SCI.

Criteria:

Between the ages of 16 and 65 with SCI at C7 or above, voluntary thumb movement

Duration:

Visit laboratory for 2-hour sessions 5 days per week for 6 weeks

Principal Investigator:

Edelle Field-Fote, Ph.D., PT

Contact:

Joyce Gomes

Brain Stimulation to Improve Hand and arm Function in Individuals with Incomplete SCI

Purpose:

To investigate whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with massed practice hand training produce improvements in pinch strength and upper extremity function in people with SCI.

Criteria:

Any C7 or above SCI with voluntary thumb movement; 16-65 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

Visit laboratory for 2-hour sessions 5 days per week for 2 weeks

Principal Investigator:

Edelle Field-Fote, Ph.D., PT

Contact:

Joyce Gomes

Activity in Muscles Paralyzed by SCI

Purpose:

To determine the typical frequency and strength of muscle spasms after cervical SCI and how they are changed by exercise and/or medication.

Criteria:

Any C4-C8 SCI; 18-64 years old; ≥1 year post-injury.

Duration:

Up to 12 assessments, 1-2 week apart (3-6 months total). Each assessment involves two consecutive days (up to 4 hours in the lab on the first day followed by a 24 hour recording using a portable device that the person takes home; up to 3 hours in the lab on the second day).

Principal Investigator:

Christine Thomas, Ph.D.

Contact:

Christine Thomas, Ph.D.

Utility of Quantitative Sensory Tersting in SCI-related Neuropathic Pain

Purpose:

To learn more about a type of pain commonly occurring as a result of nerve damage that follows injury to the spinal cord. This neuropathic pain can be severe, long lasting, and difficult to treat. Our long term goal is to improve treatment by developing tools that allow us to better identify the observable characteristics of this pain, such as signs and symptoms, and then connect those characteristics with the underlying causes, including inherited (genetic) differences.

Criteria:

Any SCI T12 or above; 18-70 years old, ≥2 years post-injury; fluent in English; experience at least moderate pain.

Duration:

3 visits total, each lasting 1 to 4 hours over a 2 to 4 week period.

Principal Investigator:

Eva Widerstrom-Noga, Ph.D.

Contact:

Jim Adcock

Survey to Determine the Prevalence of Sleep-Related Problems

Purpose:

To learn more about the kinds of sleep-related problems experienced by people living with spinal cord injury.

Criteria:

Any SCI at or between the C5-L1 levels; 18-60 years old; ≥1 years post-injury.

Duration:

15 minutes.

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

Kim Anderson-Erisman, PhD

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sleepsurveykiosk

Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) in Persons with Chronic Tetraplegia:  Characterization and Treatment

Purpose:

This study has two purposes, each involving a different phase of the overall study: 1) to measure clinical features of sleep and whether persons with tetraplegia have medical risks associated with poor sleep, and 2) to determine in persons with tetraplegia having SDB whether treatment using positive airway pressure (PAP) reduces health risks and improves health related quality of life.

Criteria:

SCI at or between the C5-C8 levels; 18-60 years old; ≥1 year post-injury; no previous diagnosis of SDB with active use of PAP.

Duration:

The length of your participation in the study will vary based upon your level of injury and whether the investigators find you have SDB. During phase 1, you will undergo a series of physical assessments and an overnight sleep study in a sleep lab. If the sleep assessments find that you have SDB, you may participate in phase 2 and undergo a three month period of home treatment with PAP, followed by office visits, repeated questionnaires, and a medical assessment.

Principal Investigator:

Mark Nash, PhD, FACSM

Contact:

Luisa Betancourt, Patricia Burns

PSYCHOLOGYSTUDIES