Frequency and Severity of Drooling in Children with Cerebral Palsy– A Cross-Sectional Study

Background:
Drooling is a common problem in children with cerebral palsy
(CP), which has both physical and psychological impacts. So,
this problem should be addressed among the CP patients.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to find out the frequency and severity
of drooling in children with Cerebral palsy.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Pediatric
Neurology outpatient department of the National Institute of
Neurosciences and Hospital (NINS), Dhaka, from January to
December 2022. A total of 100 children aged 3–14 years with
a primary diagnosis of cerebral palsy who had drooling were
included. The severity and frequency of drooling were assessed
by Thomas Stonell and the Greenberg drooling rating scale. This
Scale was used to measure the drooling severity and frequency.
Data were collected via a structured questionnaire and analyzed
using SPSS (version 25), with p<0.05 considered statistically
significant. Ethical approval was obtained, and informed consent
was secured from parents/caregivers.
Results:
Among the 100 participants, 54% were male and 46% were
female, and about half of them were under five years of age.
Spastic quadriplegia was the most prevalent CP type (45%),
followed by spastic hemiplegia (30%), diplegia (19%), and
dyskinetic CP (6%). Constant (42.2%) and frequent (37.8%)
drooling were observed predominantly in children with spastic
quadriplegia (p=0.007). In terms of severity, severe drooling was
most common (74.2%), followed by profuse (50%) and moderate
drooling (34.7%) in quadriplegic CP children (p=0.001), then
diplegic and hemiplegic children.
Conclusion:
This study highlighted that the drooling frequency and severity
both had a significant association with the types of CP.