This study aimed to compare the duration of swallowing sounds and the power spectral density (PSD) of breath sounds/aspiration sounds recorded by cervical auscultation (CA) in children with and without tracheal aspiration. METHODS: Twenty-two swallowing signals were captured during fluid swallow from patients aged 1-14 years, who had complaints of OPD, and aspirationsduring a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) were analyzed. The signals were separated into groups: G1 (n=11; aspiration during the VFSS) and G2 (n=11; no aspiration during the VFSS). Another group of swallowing sounds, G3 (n=11), comprised children with no OPD complaints. All children were assessed using a piezoelectric microphone attached to their neck. Generalized estimating equations for multiple comparisons with Bonferroni's post-hoc correction (p≤ 0.05) were used for comparison among swallowing signal groups. RESULTS: The mean swallowing times were significantly longer in G1 (1.289±0.064s) and G2 (1.230±0.124s) than in G3 (0.596±0.057s) (p=0.000). There were no differences in swallowing time between G1 and G2 (p=1.000). The mean PSD values for aspiration detected in G1 (3330.8±405.74 1/ √Hz) were statistically greater than that of the mean PSD values for respiration in G2 (720.55 ±121.61 1/ √Hz) and G3 (890.3±179.45 1/ √Hz) (p=0.000 and p=0.015, espectively). There were no significant differences in PSD between G2 and G3 (p=1.000). CONCLUSION: Children with OPD have a prolonged swallowing time as compared to that of children without OPD. Post-swallow aspiration detected by CA has a greater PSD than post-swallow respiration.
