Use of interventions by parents overall and split by causes of EDSD
| Intervention | All N=359*, n (%) | Physical and mixed EDSD n=165†,n(%) | Non-physical EDSD n=183‡, n (%) |
| Food or drink modification | 203 (56.5) | 113 (68.5) | 88 (48.1) |
| Desensitisation programme for food avoidance | 167 (46.5) | 83 (50.3) | 83 (45.4) |
| Modification of utensils | 146 (40.7) | 79 (47.9) | 65 (35.5) |
| Enhancing child/feeder communication strategies at mealtimes | 146 (40.7) | 61 (37.0) | 85 (46.4) |
| Positioning | 145 (40.4) | 102 (61.8) | 41 (22.4) |
| Information on impact of sensory difficulties on eating and drinking | 140 (39.0) | 56 (33.9) | 83 (45.4) |
| Modification of environment | 130 (36.2) | 46 (27.9) | 84 (45.9) |
| Hand-over-hand prompting | 123 (34.3) | 81 (49.1) | 41 (22.4) |
| Visual supports | 122 (34.0) | 41 (24.8) | 81 (44.3) |
| Medication | 121 (33.7) | 89 (53.9) | 30 (16.4) |
| Schedule of meals | 121 (33.7) | 48 (29.1) | 71 (38.8) |
| Strategies/programme aimed at changing behaviour at mealtimes | 109 (30.4) | 29 (17.6) | 80 (43.7) |
| Modifying social eating and drinking opportunities | 83 (23.1) | 37 (22.4) | 45 (24.6) |
| Pacing of food at mealtimes | 78 (21.7) | 45 (27.3) | 31 (16.9) |
| Oral-motor exercises | 74 (20.6) | 54 (32.7) | 19 (10.4) |
| Energy supplements | 68 (18.9) | 40 (24.2) | 28 (15.3) |
| Sensory aids | 62 (17.2) | 34 (20.6) | 28 (15.3) |
| Sensory stimulation | 60 (16.7) | 37 (22.4) | 21 (11.5) |
| Desensitisation programme for oral sensations | 59 (16.4) | 38 (23.0) | 20 (10.9) |
| Training to wait for child’s cues for feeding | 53 (14.8) | 34 (20.6) | 18 (9.8) |
| Information on impact of movement difficulties on eating and drinking | 50 (13.9) | 37 (22.4) | 12 (6.6) |
| Manoeuvres | 38 (10.6) | 35 (21.2) | 3 (1.6) |
| Modelling | 37 (10.3) | 22 (13.3) | 15 (8.2) |
| Counselling | 17 (4.7) | 4 (2.4) | 12 (6.6) |
| Sensorimotor therapies | 11 (3.1) | 9 (5.5) | 2 (1.1) |
The numbers within each subgroup (physical and mixed EDSD and non-physical EDSD) do not add up to the total number of respondents due to 11 parents not providing information on the nature of their child’s difficulties. These percentages add up to greater than 100% because participants could choose more than one option. The percentage of missing data varied for each of the interventions and for each of the groups. The following show the mean per cent of missing data for each group and SD in brackets):
*11% (3%),
†8% (1%).
‡10% (4%).
EDSD, eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.