Classification tree to screen for the nursing diagnosis Ineffective airway clearance.

Objective: to identify the defining characteristics of Ineffective airway clearance with better predictive power using classification trees.

Method: the predictive power of the defining characteristics of Ineffective airway clearance was evaluated based on classification trees generated from the data of 249 children with acute respiratory infection.

Results: Ineffective cough and adventitious breath sounds were identified as the main defining characteristics when screening for Ineffective airway clearance in accordance with trees based on three different computational algorithms.

Conclusion: Ineffective coughing and adventitious breath sounds had better predictive capacity for Ineffective airway clearance in the sample.