Table 3: Association between Presenting Symptoms and VFSS after Adjustment for Comorbidities.
No symptoms were associated with VFSS results even when assessed in a multivariate model with adjustment for comorbidities. Data are expressed as n (percentage). Punadjusted by the Fisher exact test. Padjusted by a logistic regression model containing a single symptom, adjusted for age at VFSS, male sex, and comorbidities (neurologic, cardiac, metabolic, immunologic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, prematurity), using Firth’s penalized maximum likelihood estimation to reduce bias due to sparse table cells.
| Symptom | VFSS Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal (n=107) | Abnormal (n=293) | Punadjusted | Padjusted | |
| Choking/Gagging | 38 (35.5%) | 112 (38.2%) | 0.64 | 0.44 |
| Reflux | 35 (32.7%) | 81 (27.7%) | 0.32 | 0.43 |
| Vomiting | 35 (32.7%) | 72 (24.6%) | 0.13 | 0.27 |
| Poor feeding | 28 (26.2%) | 63 (21.5%) | 0.35 | 0.44 |
| Slow feeding | 8 (7.5%) | 16 (5.5%) | 0.49 | 0.34 |
| Coughing | 56 (52.3%) | 173 (59.0%) | 0.25 | 0.16 |
| Noisy Breathing | 21 (19.6%) | 81 (27.7%) | 0.12 | 0.15 |
| Congestion | 26 (24.3%) | 58 (19.8%) | 0.33 | 0.45 |
| Spells | 15 (14.0%) | 53 (18.1%) | 0.37 | 0.36 |
| Respiratory Distress | 12 (11.2%) | 38 (13.0%) | 0.73 | 0.90 |
| Recurrent Pneumonia | 7 (6.5%) | 34 (11.6%) | 0.19 | 0.24 |
| Oxygen Requirement | 3 (2.8%) | 16 (5.5%) | 0.43 | 0.54 |
| During Meals | 75 (70.1%) | 220 (75.1%) | 0.24 | 0.28 |
| After Meals | 36 (33.6%) | 83 (28.3%) | 0.39 | 0.38 |
| During and After Meals | 26 (24.5%) | 58 (20.2%) | 0.41 | 0.43 |