Factors Associated with Respiratory Illness in Children and Young Adults with Cerebral Palsy.

Objective: To describe associations between respiratory illness and its potential predictors in children and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP).

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey of self- and caregiver-reported respiratory symptoms for individuals aged up to 26 years with CP. Respiratory illness was indicated by 2 outcomes: (1) ≥1 respiratory hospitalizations in the past year; and (2) ≥2 courses of antibiotics for respiratory symptoms in the past year. ORs were calculated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: There were 551 participants, aged 1-26 years, distributed across all gross motor function classification scale (GMFCS) levels. In univariate analyses, factors significantly associated with respiratory hospitalizations were weekly respiratory symptoms (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.78-3.00), respiratory symptoms during meals (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.50-5.80), gastroesophageal reflux (OR 3.01, 95% CI 1.71-5.31), coughing or choking on saliva (OR 4.36, 95% CI 2.38-8.01), current asthma (OR 3.56, 95% CI 1.97-6.42), age (0-3 years) (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.19-8.80, compared with 13-17 years), seizures (OR 3.45, 95% CI 1.96-6.08), and scoliosis (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.16-3.97). Nonambulatory individuals (GMFCS IV-V) were at significantly increased risk of hospitalizations only if they had food modifications and/or nasogastric or gastrostomy tube feeds (OR 5.36, 95% CI 2.89-9.96, compared with GMFCS I-III with no food modifications and no tube). All factors, except seizures and scoliosis, were significantly associated with multiple courses of antibiotics in univariate analyses.

Conclusions: Oromotor dysfunction is strongly associated with respiratory illness in patients with CP.