Choices

ABOUT CHOICES

‘Cardiovascular Health / Outcomes: Improvements Created by Exercise and education in SCI’ (CHOICES) adopts a multidisciplinary approach to improving the lives, health and care of Canadians living with SCI by examining the benefits of optimized exercise and targeted education to cardiovascular health.

The CHOICES study is now closed.


But Krassioukov Lab has other studies available:

Results

While we are no longer recruiting participants, there is still a cohort of participants in training. Results are in progress.

The CHOICES Project brings together leading researchers from across Canada with the aim of improving the lives, health and care of Canadians living with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Our research examines benefits to cardiovascular (CV) health in individuals with chronic SCI through optimized exercise and targeted education. We will determine whether educating health care providers on specific CV problems associated with SCI will help to reduce the financial burden of care, and improve treatment of people with SCI. By providing important information on exercise training and targeted education to clinicians, this project will reduce chronic disease and improve cardiovascular health for Canadians living with SCI.

The Research

Project 1: Exercise and Cardiovascular Health in Spinal Cord Injury

Project 2: Cardiovascular Mechanisms in Spinal Cord Injury

Project 3: Educating Caregivers on Cardiovascular Conditions in Spinal Cord Injury

Background

Annually, over 1000 Canadians sustain a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and unwittingly join more than 41,000 Canadians living with this chronic and debilitating injury. The estimated annual costs of care in Canada exceed $1.5 billion.

Recent data reveal that people with SCI are developing chronic diseases at younger ages and at greater rates than the able-bodied population. This alarming trend appears to be caused by inactivity-related illnesses, particularly cardiovascular (CV) disease, which is the main cause of death and disease in people with SCI.

Exercise training has the potential to improve strength, performance, and well-being among people with SCI. However, we have little information on the CV effects of training in people with SCI who respond differently to exercise. This is information that we urgently need to develop in order to create exercise programs that will be effective in improving CV health for Canadians living with SCI.

With a team of 13 prestigious scientists working at universities across Canada, the goal of this project is to improve CV health for people with chronic SCI through optimized exercise and targeted education. In doing so, we will use both models of SCI and training in people with SCI to examine the effects of exercise on CV risk. We will also determine whether educating health care providers on specific CV problems associated with SCI will help to reduce the financial burden of care, and improve treatment of people with SCI.

By providing important information on exercise training and targeted education to clinicians, this project will reduce chronic disease and improve CV health for Canadians living with chronic SCI.

View the CHOICES ClinicalTrials.gov profile.

ICORD PI Dr. Andrei Krassioukov received a CIHR Team grant to study the effects of exercise interventions on cardiovascular health of individuals with chronic spinal cord injury. The research program has been named CHOICES (for Cardiovascular Health/Outcomes: Improvements Created by Exercise & education for SCI).

Pictured: Dr. Krassioukov, Dr. McMaster, Ms. Abbott-Peter, Dr. Feldman, Minister Aglukkaq at the announcement of CIHR Team Grant

Contact

CHOICES Team Vancouver

ICORD – Blusson Spinal Cord Centre
818 W 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC. V5Z Il7
 
P: 604-675-8856
E: franz@icord.org

CHOICES Team Hamilton

McMaster University
1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON
L8S 4L8
 
P: 905-525-9140 (Ext. 27037)

E: choices.mac@gmail.com

CHOICES Team Toronto

Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – Lyndhurst Centre
520 Sutherland Drive, Toronto, ON
M4G 3V9
 
P: 416-597-3422 (Ext. 6287)
E: TRI-SCIresearch@uhn.ca