SHAPE SCI

The Study of Health and Activity in People with Spinal Cord Injury (SHAPE SCI) is a landmark study of health and daily activity levels in people who have experienced a traumatic spinal cord injury. The study is designed to shed light on the amount of activity needed to improve the health and quality of life of persons with SCI. The largest study of its kind, SHAPE SCI involves 800 people with SCI from all across Ontario.

Study participants are contacted three times over an 18-month period to complete a 45-minute telephone interview. During the interview, participants complete standardized questionnaires regarding their daily activity levels, health and well-being, and factors related to their activity levels. In addition, a subset of 100 participants living in Hamilton-Halton and surrounding areas have undergone blood tests and body composition measures in order to assess their risk for heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

Importantly, SHAPE SCI takes into account all types of daily activity, including household chores, hobbies, wheeling for transportation, sports, and exercise. The study data will be used to develop physical activity recommendations for people with SCI. Currently, it is not known how much activity, or what types of activity, are needed to reduce the risk of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, depressions, and urinary tract infections in people with SCI. Ultimately, our goal is to develop physical activity guidelines and activity support programs to help people with SCI become more physically active in their homes and communities.

NOTE: SHAPE SCI is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It is a multi-centre study involving researchers at McMaster University, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Queen's University and St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital, and the University of Western Ontario and Parkwood Hospital.

Update: All SHAPE SCI participants have been recruited – thank you to all who have partnered in this project! Time 1 and Time 2 interviews have been completed, and Time 3 interviews will be completed by January 2009. We will continue to update our Research Publications as we analyze and release more data.