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Mapping the Evidence on Cardiovascular Disease Risk among Individuals Experiencing Disability: A Scoping Review

Yan Xu1,2, Elena Koelbener2, Oscar H Franco3

  • 1Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland.

American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
|June 17, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Cardiovascular disease risk in complex disabling conditions like TBI and MS is under-researched. Evidence is fragmented, highlighting a need for standardized definitions and broader representation in future studies.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Cardiology
  • Public Health
  • Disability Studies

Background:

  • Growing interest in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among individuals with complex and disabling health conditions.
  • Limited understanding of CVD risk factors and outcomes in populations with traumatic brain injury (TBI), multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury (SCI), cerebral palsy (CP), spina bifida (SB), and poliomyelitis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To map existing evidence on CVD risk in individuals with complex disabling health conditions.
  • Identify research gaps to guide future investigations.

Main Methods:

  • Scoping review following an established framework and pre-registered protocol.
  • Searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.
  • Descriptive synthesis of data from 38 observational studies (over 1.6 million individuals).

Main Results:

  • Evidence base is limited, fragmented, and geographically uneven.
  • Most studies compared these populations to the general population, focusing on stroke.
  • Little attention paid to within-group determinants of CVD risk.

Conclusions:

  • Literature shows increasing interest but suffers from methodological heterogeneity and uneven condition representation.
  • Future research requires standardized disability definitions and consistent diagnostic criteria.
  • Improved reporting of patient-level factors and broader representation across impairment groups and regions are crucial.
Abstract

Keywords:
Cardiovascular DiseaseDisabilityRisk FactorsStroke

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