The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between spinal cord injury (SCI) and the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in a cohort study with a large representative sample.The National Health Insurance Database was used to select patients who were diagnosed from 2000 to 2010. Patients with a history of PAD were excluded. The SCI group comprised 42,673 patients diagnosed with SCI, and we enrolled 170,389 matched controls (non-SCI group). We used a Cox proportional hazards regression model to analyze the adjusted risk of PAD between the case and control patients.Patients with SCI exhibited a significantly higher risk (hazard ratio [HR]=1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.22-1.53) of PAD than patients without SCI. Patients with diabetes were at the highest risk of developing PAD (adjusted HR=3.11, 95% CI=2.80-3.44). Among patients without comorbidity, SCI patients exhibited a significantly higher risk of PAD than non-SCI patients. Furthermore, lumbar, sacral, or coccygeal spine, and multiple spine SCI were significantly associated with an increased risk of PAD (HR=1.56, 95% CI=1.33-1.84, HR=2.11, 95% CI=1.59-2.79, respectively).SCI is associated with an increased risk of PAD. Future studies should focus on modifying risk factors to reduce PAD risk among patients with SCI.
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