Table 1 Statements and results of the voting. All statements reached consensus on agreement (i.e., sum of 5 + 4 ≥ 75%)
Topic | Statement | Level of agreement (% of all voters, n = 55) | Consensus | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Sum 5 + 4 | |||
Clinical manifestations and QoL | Drooling is one of the symptoms that I often evaluate in patients with complex disabilities | 50 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 96 | Reached, agreement |
Drooling is often a clinically relevant symptom in at least half of patients with infantile cerebral palsy | 91 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
Drooling is a frequent symptom of some rare pediatric diseases | 80 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
Drooling severity can vary over time | 85 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
Drooling leads to a reduction in the QoL of the patient and those who take care of it | 98 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
It is useful to evaluate drooling symptom in all patients with chronic neurological diseases | 86 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
Quantification | The assessment of drooling severity must be monitored over time with quantitative scales | 69 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 93 | Reached, agreement |
Physicians must record the severity of drooling in the medical records | 78 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | Reached, agreement | |
It is important to distinguish between anterior and posterior hypersalivation | 84 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 97 | Reached, agreement | |
Treatment strategies | Drooling therapies are possibly prescribed only by the child neuropsychiatrist, neurologist, pediatrician | 43 | 39 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 82 | Reached, agreement |
Rehabilitation therapy must precede pharmacological therapy and surgical options | 80 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 98 | Reached, agreement | |
Non-invasive drug therapy (e.g., oral use) must always precede invasive therapy (e.g., botulinum toxin) | 78 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 96 | Reached, agreement | |
Pharmacological therapy of drooling is essentially based on the use of products that have no specific indication (e.g., antihistamines) | 27 | 48 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 75 | Reached, agreement | |
Botulinum toxin A is administered to pediatric patients only in a hospital setting, after sedation, and with ultrasound control | 88 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 97 | Reached, agreement | |
During the entire period of action of botulinum toxin A, no other drugs are given to control drooling | 39 | 41 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 80 | Reached, agreement | |