Results:

Both the case and control groups had 30 subjects included in this study. The sex ratio in the case group was 20:10 and in the control group was 18:12. The mean age of the subjects in the case group was 45.33 years with a standard deviation (SD) of ± 11.8 years and in the control group the mean age was 39 years with a SD of ±12.15 years. Thus, the age and sex were well matched in the two groups. Most of the patients in both the groups were in the age group of 50-60 years (14/30 in the case group and 9/30 in the control group). In the case group, the minimum duration of tracheostomy at the time of the test was 28 days, and the maximum duration was 742 days and the most common indication for tracheostomy was stridor and the most common diagnosis was malignancy of upper aerodigestive tract. Nasal mucociliary clearance time in cases group ranged from 752 seconds to 1062 seconds with a mean time of 934.9 seconds (SD ±75.94 seconds) whereas, in the control group, nasal mucociliary clearance time ranged from 346 seconds to 576 seconds with a mean of 447.4 (SD ±63.21 seconds) as shown in chart 1. Another finding noted was that the impairment in nasal mucociliary clearance was directly proportional to the duration of tracheostomy (Chart 2). These results of nasal mucociliary clearance time in 2 groups were analyzed using the ‘Independent sample t-test’ to determine the p-value which was <0.001 and which was statistically significant indicating a worsening of nasal mucociliary clearance in tracheostomy patients.