Background: Cervical auscultation (CA) involves listening to swallowing and respiratory sounds and/or vibrations to detect oropharyngeal aspiration (OPA). CA has shown promising diagnostic test accuracy when used with the clinical swallowing examination and is gaining popularity in clinical practise. There has not been a review to date analysing the accuracy of CA in paediatric and adult populations with meta-analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS), currently the gold standard for assessing aspiration in children, incurs radiation. Adhering to the ALARA principle is crucial in minimising radiation dose whilst obtaining accurate diagnostic information in children. International adult VFSS guidelines recommend a capture rate of 30 frames per second (fps).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBetween 30% and 50% of infants and children with pediatric feeding disorders demonstrate oropharyngeal aspiration. Thickening fluids are a compensatory strategy that is commonly recommended by speech pathologists for the management of oropharyngeal aspiration. Ongoing variability in the preparation of thickened fluids across infant formulas and healthcare facilities continue to limit the standardization of the preparation of thickened infant and pediatric formulas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To assess the cost-effectiveness of care coordination, compared with standard care, for children with chronic noncomplex medical conditions.
Methods: A total of 81 children aged between 2 and 15 years newly diagnosed with a noncomplex chronic condition were randomized to either care coordination or standard care as part of a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Families receiving care coordination were provided access to an Allied Health Liaison Officer, who facilitated family-centered healthcare access across hospital, education, primary care, and community sectors.
Background: There is significant variability in clinical pathways available in the diagnostic assessment of ASD, including the order and timing of allied health assessments in relation to paediatrician consultations. Allied health professionals in first-contact models are increasingly used to improve the timeliness of healthcare access, whilst complementing medical specialty workforce shortages. Anecdotally, the implementation of allied health first-contact models in paediatrics has improved waitlists and timely access to healthcare.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUse of machine learning to accurately detect aspirating swallowing sounds in children is an evolving field. Previously reported classifiers for the detection of aspirating swallowing sounds in children have reported sensitivities between 79 and 89%. This study aimed to investigate the accuracy of using an automatic speaker recognition approach to differentiate between normal and aspirating swallowing sounds recorded from digital cervical auscultation in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: There is a paucity of high-quality evidence on the effect of care coordination on health-related quality of life among children with chronic noncomplex medical conditions (non-CMCs).
Objective: To examine whether care coordination delivered by an Allied Health Liaison Officer results in improved quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes for children with chronic non-CMCs and their families.
Design, Setting And Participants: This multicenter, open label, randomized clinical trial was conducted in pediatric outpatient clinics at 3 Australian hospitals with tertiary- and secondary-level pediatric care facilities.
Aim: To evaluate the associations between type of light-emitting diode phototherapy intervention and hospital and patient related outcomes in term neonates with non-haemolytic jaundice.
Methods: A retrospective observational study in a community hospital within a disadvantaged area in Australia was conducted. Data was extracted from hospital systems and medical records regarding the use of three types of phototherapy surface-area exposure for term neonates ≤28 days with non-haemolytic neonatal jaundice.
Background: Cervical auscultation (i.e. listening to swallowing sounds) is the most commonly used technique in adjuvant to the clinical feeding examination by speech-language pathologists worldwide to assess for oropharyngeal aspiration risk in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Children with chronic health conditions have better health-related outcomes when their care is managed in a personalised and coordinated way. However, increased demand on Australian ambulatory care hospital services has led to longer waitlist times to access specialists and appropriate intervention services; placing vulnerable children at increased risk of poorer short-term (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLimited data on cervical auscultation (CA) sounds during the transitional feeding period of 4-36 months in healthy children exist. This study examined the acoustic and perceptual parameters of swallowing sounds in children aged 4-36 months over a range of food and fluid consistencies. Using CA, swallowing sounds were recorded from a microphone as children ate or drank.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Speech Lang Pathol
December 2017
Purpose: Limited data exist that support the reproducibility of cervical auscultation (CA) use in children. This study aimed to determine the reliability of CA in detecting oropharyngeal aspiration (OPA) in children within a controlled environment.
Method: This observational study included eight speech-language pathologists who rated clips of 40 normal and 40 OPA swallowing sounds on two separate occasions (i.
In this study, we aimed to determine if the use of cervical auscultation (CA) as an adjunct to the clinical feeding evaluation (CFE + CA) improves the reliability of predicting oropharyngeal aspiration (abbreviated to aspiration) in children. The design of the study is based on open label, randomized controlled trial with concealed allocation. Results from children (<18 years) randomized to either CFE or CFE + CA were compared to videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS), the reference standard data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Oropharyngeal aspiration (OPA) can lead to recurrent respiratory illnesses and chronic lung disease in children. Current clinical feeding evaluations performed by speech pathologists have poor reliability in detecting OPA when compared to radiological procedures such as the modified barium swallow (MBS). Improved ability to diagnose OPA accurately via clinical evaluation potentially reduces reliance on expensive, less readily available radiological procedures.
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