Table 2—

Clinical markers associated with type of swallowing dysfunction

Clinical signs	Thin fluid^#				Purée^¶
Clinical signs	OR (95%CI)⁺	p-value	Adjusted OR (95%CI)^§	p-value	OR (95%CI)⁺	p-value	Adjusted OR (95%CI)^§	p-value
OPA^ƒ
Cough	2.31 (1.08–4.94)	0.029*	3.30 (1.17–9.27)	0.024*	1.06 (0.37–3.01)	0.919	1.39 (0.39–4.88)	0.611
Wheeze	1.12 (0.27–4.71)	0.879	0.75 (0.14–4.10)	0.738	1.17 (0.13–10.37)	0.890	2.02 (0.16–25.03)	0.586
Stridor	0.88 (0.26–2.98)	0.831	0.40 (0.08–1.94)	0.255	0.76 (0.09–6.40)	0.796	0.00 (0.00–0.00)	0.997
Throat clear	1.72 (0.37–8.05)	0.488	1.32 (0.22–8.06)	0.765	3.03 (0.54–17.12)	0.190	0.00 (0.00–0.00)	0.997
Gag	0.87 (0.38–1.98)	0.739	0.88 (0.31–2.53)	0.818	0.43 (0.11–1.59)	0.193	0.74 (0.15–3.63)	0.712
Choke	1.80 (0.77–4.23)	0.174	1.73 (0.61–4.94)	0.304	0.17 (0.02–1.30)	0.054	0.00 (0.00–0.00)	0.997
Wet voice	9.39 (3.50–25.21)	<0.001*	8.90 (2.87–27.62)	<0.001*	3.32 (1.07–10.34)	0.031*	1.55 (0.29–8.35)	0.609
Apnoea/desaturations	2.91 (0.98–8.66)	0.048*	2.39 (0.57–10.01)	0.233	0.96 (0.92–0.99)	0.386	0.00 (0.00–0.00)	0.999
Wet breathing	4.66 (1.91–11.33)	<0.001*	3.35 (1.09–10.29)	0.035*	2.73 (0.89–8.38)	0.071	3.91 (0.84–18.27)	0.083
Laboured breathing	3.02 (0.77–11.90)	0.100	4.57 (0.85–24.55)	0.076	0.95 (0.91–0.99)	0.341	0.00 (0.0–0.00)	0.998
Temperature spikes	1.11 (0.10–12.63)	0.931	7.43 (0.52–106.01)	0.139	0.96 (0.93–1.00)	0.440	0.00 (0.0–0.00)	0.999
PSR
Cough	2.61 (1.04–6.58)	0.037*	3.59 (1.22–10.55)	0.020*	1.87 (0.86–4.06)	0.112	1.90 (0.77–4.68)	0.166
Wheeze	2.30 (0.53–9.89)	0.254	2.33 (0.43–12.61)	0.328	1.92 (0.41–9.03)	0.402	1.30 (0.24–7.02)	0.759
Stridor	0.30 (0.04–2.42)	0.233	0.23 (0.02–2.18)	0.198	0.59 (0.12–2.93)	0.518	0.25 (0.03–1.99)	0.191
Throat clear	0.70 (0.81–6.10)	0.747	0.64 (0.06–7.03)	0.712	3.56 (0.76–16.74)	0.090	5.37(0.83–34.98)	0.079
Gag	0.74 (0.27–2.03)	0.557	0.69 (0.23–2.15)	0.526	0.765(0.28–1.12)	0.316	0.85 (0.34–2.17)	0.738
Choke	0.87 (0.29–2.55)	0.792	0.70 (0.21–2.36)	0.567	0.90 (0.37–2.17)	0.810	0.66 (0.23–1.91)	0.447
Wet voice	2.49 (0.93–6.69)	0.064	3.12 (0.93–10.52)	0.066	2.79 (1.10–7.06)	0.027*	1.99 (0.66–5.98)	0.223
Apnoea/desaturations	1.08 (0.28–4.15)	0.911	1.37 (0.28–6.6)	0.699	0.60 (0.07–5.59)	0.654	0.65 (0.06–7.38)	0.731
Wet breathing	0.97 (0.33–2.86)	0.950	0.68 (0.18–2.56)	0.564	2.14 (0.88–5.25)	0.091	2.00 (0.66–6.11)	0.222
Laboured breathing	0.52 (0.06–4.32)	0.535	0.56 (0.51–6.05)	0.631	0.98 (0.18–5.31)	0.984	0.62 (0.08–4.92)	0.648
Temperature spikes	2.19 (0.90–25.12)	0.520	8.86(0.54–144.43)	0.126	0.82 (0.08–8.10)	0.861	1.37 (0.11–17.32)	0.810

OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; OPA: oropharyngeal aspiration; PSR: post-swallow residue.^#: n = 132; ^¶: n = 127; ⁺: univariate analysis; ^§: multiple regression analysis; ^ƒ: OPA includes all children with aspiration, both overt and silent aspiration combined. No statistically significant associations were noted between any clinical markers and isolated laryngeal penetration for thin fluid and purée consistencies (p>0.05 for all clinical markers). *: p<0.05.