Speech-language pathologist involvement in the paediatric intensive care unit.
Rachel Santiago, Blair J Gorenberg, Christine Hurtubise and 2 others
PMID 37778370WHAT IT FOUND
Only 8.5% of children in US paediatric ICUs for more than 72 hours were seen by speech-language pathology on the study day.
Those with an endotracheal tube and those aged 7 to 12 were least likely.
Key findings
01Only 8.5% of the 961 children included were seen by speech-language pathology on the study day.
02SLP consultation was lowest for children ventilated through an endotracheal tube, at 0.58% (n=2), and most common for children receiving no respiratory support, at 18.5%.
03After accounting for other factors, children aged 7 to 12, children using high-flow nasal cannula, and children ventilated through an endotracheal tube had significantly lower odds of SLP involvement.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The SLP data were collected on one study day, so the 8.5% figure may not show how often SLPs were consulted during each child's whole admission. Referral reasons were not collected, so the paper cannot separate children seen for communication from children seen for feeding and swallowing. The paper did not describe each hospital's SLP staffing model or role, so local staffing and scope of practice may affect the prevalence. Overlaps in scope with occupational therapy, child life, or other providers were noted, so SLP involvement may not mean the same thing in every unit. It reports associations with SLP involvement, not patient outcomes, so it cannot show whether SLP visits improved communication, feeding, or recovery.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 8.5% one-day figure as the total amount of speech-language pathology care these children received. The study counted visits on one study day and did not collect referral reasons, so it cannot show how much care was needed or delivered over the whole admission.