Medical and social factors as predictors of outcome in infant tracheostomy.

We examined the relative impact of infant tracheostomy in comparison to associated medical and social factors, on developmental outcome as part of a cross-sectional follow-up of 32 children. These children had no mental retardation, physical handicap, or severe neurological problems, but had a history of long-term tracheostomy in infancy, ranging from 3 to 146 months duration. Medical factors evaluated included prematurity, neurological status, severity of illness, and number of weeks hospitalized. Social factors included parental education and occupation. Outcome measures included IQ, language quotient, growth parameters, and behavioral competence. Correlation analyses, stepwise multiple regression analyses, and t-tests were used. Early medical illnesses were significant predictors of cognitive, language, and growth outcome. Severity of medical complications at birth and the presence of any neurological problem predicted 49% of the variance in IQ at follow-up. Social class was the only variable to predict behavioral outcome, accounting for 28% of the variance. For children without confounding medical conditions, tracheostomy had a negative impact on overall language and auditory comprehension. Once children with confounding medical risk factors were removed from the sample, children with history of infant tracheostomy exhibited significantly lower overall mean language scores (106 versus 120), and lower mean language comprehension scores (104 versus 119) than a matched comparison group.