The association of drooling and health-related quality of life in children with cerebral palsy

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of children with cerebral palsy (CP)

	Drooling (+) no	Drooling (−) no	Statistic
Sex			φ = −0.091
Boy	22	8
Girl	11	6
Age			φ = −0.042
<4 years	15 (26–46 months)	7 (24–41 months)
≥4 years	18 (48–71 months)	7 (49–66 months)
Type of CP (no)			φ = −0.429a
Diplegia	5	8
Quadriplegia	28	6
Developmental status (month)
Language	19.64 ± 17.90	42.36 ± 13.45	Z = −3.73a
Gross motor	12.88 ± 12.54	16.36 ± 13.16	Z = −1.18
Cognition	19.76 ± 17.88	43.36 ± 17.76	Z = −3.58a

Notes: Drooling (+): children with drooling; Drooling (−): children without drooling; φ: Chi square φ; Z, Z score of Mann–Whitney U test;

a P < 0.01.

Table 2 Comparison of sex, age, type of CP, and drooling with the HRQOL

	Physical summary score		Psychosocial summary score
	Mean ± SD	t	Mean ± SD	t
Sex
Boy	18.96 ± 17.43	−0.95	49.20 ± 16.68	1.09
Girl	24.49 ± 22.16		43.51 ± 18.31
Age
<4 years	25.57 ± 19.66	1.57	52.13 ± 16.43	1.91
≥4 years	16.90 ± 28.25		42.75 ± 17.19
Type of CP
Diplegia	34.19 ± 18.69	3.20a	53.48 ± 10.70	1.58
Quadriplegia	15.90 ± 17.11		44.72 ± 18.82
Drooling
Drooling (−)	31.97 ± 22.22	2.73a	57.09 ± 12.21	2.74a
Drooling (+)	16.29 ± 15.97		42.92 ± 17.57

Notes: Statistics with the t test;

a P < 0.01.

Abbreviations: CP, cerebral palsy; HRQOL, health-related quality of life; SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Correlations between drooling ranking, developmental status, and HRQOL

	Physical health summary (r)	Psychosocial health summary (r)	Drooling ranking (r)	Language (r)	Gross motor (r)
Drooling ranking	−0.355a	−0.381b
Language	0.477b	0.522b	−0.589b
Gross motor	0.716b	0.383b	−0.123	0.458b
Cognition	0.503b	0.516b	−0.537b	0.900b	0.501b

Notes:r, Pearson correlation coefficient;

a P < 0.05;

b P < 0.01.

Abbreviation: HRQOL, health-related quality of life.

Table 4 Stepwise regression of drooling ranking and developmental status

	Physical health summary score				Psychosocial health summary score
	β	t	P	Tolerance	β	t	P	Tolerance
Drooling ranking	−0.271	−2.772	<0.01		(−)			0.653
Language	(−)			0.501	0.522	4.103	<0.01
Gross motor	0.683	6.977	<0.01		(−)			0.790
Cognition	(−)			0.519	(−)			0.191

Note: (−): excluded in stepwise regression.