Authors:
Blackmore AM, Bear N, Blair E, Freedman C, Langdon K, Moshovis L, et al.
Authors notes:
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, 2013
Keywords:
Cerebral palsy, pneumonia, respiratory disease, hospitalisation
Abstract:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is defined by movement impairment of cerebral origin.
It is a lifelong but very heterogeneous disability first evident in childhood.
Pneumonia is the leading cause of death before 40 years of age in people with CP in Western Australia.
However, the development of respiratory conditions during childhood and the factors which predict severe respiratory disease in this population are poorly understood.
The primary aim of this study is to identify the predictors and prevalence of severe respiratory disease in children, adolescents and young adults with CP.
One or more respiratory related hospitalizations were reported for 13.1% of participants, and 20.4% required 2 or more courses of antibiotics for respiratory illness.
Respiratory symptoms are common in children and young adults with CP. Those children with more respiratory symptoms are more likely to experience severe respiratory disease.
The risk of GMFCS-associated hospitalization for respiratory disease was greatly modified by the presence of oro-pharyngeal dysfunction (reflected in the need for feeding modifications), the likely causal factor which is very often associated with severe gross motor impairment.