Study Design This is a cross-sectional study. Objectives To describe the association between cardiovascular risk factors (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, blood glucose and lipids) and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in older adults with long-term spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting Community settings, southern Sweden. Methods Data from the baseline data collection of the Swedish Aging with Spinal Cord Injury Study (SASCIS) (n = 123, 71% men, injury levels C1-L5, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale AD , mean age 63 years, mean time since injury 24 years). Data were collected through home interviews, assessments and blood samples. The Physical Activity Recall Assessment for People with SCI was used to assess LTPA. Associations were investigated using multivariable linear regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, level and severity of injury, cause of injury, time since injury and tobacco use. Results More minutes per day of moderate-to-heavy LTPA were significantly associated with a lower BMI (Beta = −0.31; p = 0.001) and a lower WC (Beta = −0.24; p = 0.009). More minutes per day of total LTPA (mild intensity or greater) were associated with a higher systolic blood pressure (Beta = 0.27; p = 0.041) among participants with tetraplegia. No other significant associations between the cardiovascular risk factors and total LTPA were found. Conclusion Participation in daily LTPA is associated with better cardiovascular health with regard to BMI and WC in older adults with long-term SCI. Further studies are needed to establish the specific amount of activity needed to obtain positive health effects in this group and the directional causality of the associations. Sponsorship Not applicable.

Background Streptococcus pyogenes bacteraemia is a severe condition with high mortality. Time to blood culture positivity (TTP) is known to predict the outcome in bacteraemia with other pathogens. This study aimed to determine the association between TTP and outcome in S. pyogenes bacteraemia. Methods This retrospective observational cohort study comprised adults with S. pyogenes bacteraemia, identified through the laboratory database between 2015 and 2018, in the Region of Skåne, Sweden. Correlations between TTP and outcomes were investigated. Primary outcome was death within 30 days and secondary outcomes were presence of sepsis or disease deterioration within the first 48 hours. Results A total of 347 episodes of S. pyogenes bacteraemia were identified of which 61 were excluded resulting in 286 included episodes. Median TTP was 10.4 hours, (interquartile range 8.4-11.4). Thirty-day mortality was 10 %. Median TTP was shorter in patients who died within 30 days compared to survivors (8.6 vs 10.4 hours, p < 0.001). In a multivariable logistic regression, shorter TTP was associated with 30-day mortality when adjusting for age, Charlson comorbidity index and focus of infection (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.2-11.3, p = 0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in TTP between patients with sepsis within 48 hours and those who did not have sepsis. Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference in TTP between patients with disease deterioration compared to those who did not deteriorate. Conclusions Knowledge on TTP might be a tool to determine the prognosis of a given patient with S. pyogenes bacteraemia.

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