The impact of nasal aspiration with an automatic device on upper and lower respiratory symptoms in wheezing children: a pilot case-control study

Table 4 Frequency of symptoms among patients using a DuoBaby nebulizer equipped (cases, n = 43) or not equipped (controls; n = 46) with a nasal aspirator^a

	Cases n = 43		Controls n = 46		p^b
	Median^a	IQR	Median^a	IQR	p^b
Nasal symptoms in the last 24 h	25.0	(14.5–43.6)	46.4	(27.4–58.4)	0.004
Runny nose	21.0	(10.6–37.3)	39.5	(22.5–48.3)	0.021
Stuffy nose	15.3	(6.4–32.1)	24.0	(7.5–44.6)	0.160
Mucus	14.4	(3.4–34)	21.1	(7.1–38.3)	0.289
Crusts	1.5	(0–15.6)	6.7	(0–20.1)	0.485
Bronchial symptoms in the last 24 h	21.8	(14.5–37.3)	32.8	(16.8–50.3)	0.022
Dry cough	12.7	(3.5–25.8)	17.8	(5.8–32.1)	0.229
Productive cough	14.7	(6.5–18.9)	20.3	(9.3–37.7)	0.033
Wheezing	3.6	(0–10.3)	2.6	(0–10.8)	1.000
Difficult breathing	0.0	(0–3.3)	0.0	(0–3)	0.836
Fever	3.1	(0.8–5.3)	4.2	(1.6–6.9)	0.152
Sore throat	1.4	(0–3.2)	0.7	(0–4.3)	0.800
Earache	0.0	(0–1.2)	0.0	(0–2.2)	0.105
Hoarseness	0.8	(0–4.1)	0.4	(0–1.8)	0.342
Sleep disorders	6.0	(2.2–12)	6.3	(2.4–14.9)	0.690
Loss of appetite	3.2	(0–8.2)	3.1	(0.9–6.7)	0.747
Anxiety / restlessness	2.0	(0–4.7)	1.0	(0–6.6)	0.537

^aMedian (IQR) of the percentages of days with symptoms calculated at individual level (see method for definition)
^bMann Whitney U test was used to compare quantitative not normally distributed variables between groups (Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess normality of data)
Values marked in bold indicate statistically significant results with a p value < 0.05

ISSN: 1824-7288