2016 Volume 20 Issue 3 Pages 124-131
Dysphagia is a common symptom associated with a number of childhood acute cerebral diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting dysphagia recovery in patients with childhood cerebral disease.
Forty-two patients with childhood cerebral disease and disease-related dysphagia who were admitted to an emergency hospital between April 2009 and March 2014 were recruited. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify variables with a significant association with dysphagia recovery.
The mean age of the patients was 4.1 years (SD 4.3 years). At the time of discharge from the hospital, dysphagia had resolved in 16 patients (38.1%). Logistic regression analysis identified four factors that significantly predicted dysphagia recovery: Glasgow Coma Scale score, complication of respiratory diseases, presence or absence of developmental delay, and presence or absence of cough.
In patients with childhood cerebral disease-related dysphagia, these findings may have predictive value for feeding tube removal and successful oral intake before discharge from an emergency hospital.
