Healthcare usage for respiratory illness by paediatric inpatients with cerebral palsy.

Children with severe cerebral palsy (CP) have many medical co-morbidities, often managed by hospital inpatient admissions. Children with CP are hospitalised 7 times more than their neurotypical peers, and the leading cause of medical hospital admissions is respiratory illness.(1) Lower respiratory tract illness in children with CP has multifactorial aetiology, including community-acquired bacterial and viral infections, acute aspiration pneumonia, and chronic aspiration-related airways disease. It requires coordinated care from multiple medical specialties and allied health clinicians.(2) This paper describes the investigations, interventions, and healthcare services used by this population during their respiratory-related hospital admissions at one paediatric hospital.