NASAL-PHARYNGEAL MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE TIME AMONG HEALTHY NIGERIANS: AN UPDATE

Abstract

Background: Nasal-Pharyngeal-Mucociliary-Clearance (NPMC) is the primary innate defence mechanism of upper airway.The aim of the study is to revalidate the use of saccharine for the assessment of the NPMC time based on age and sex among healthy Nigerians 
and establish a reference value.
Methodology: A prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out at Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, over six-month period,  following ethical approval. All participants were given information sheet and were then made to complete a modified version of the healthquestionnaire as well as a semi-structured questionnaire and nasal endoscopy done to determine the most patent nasal cavity. The saccharine test was carried out using standard technique described by Andersen et al in 1974. Using a stop watch, time of introduction and time of  perception of taste was documented. All information was entered into IBM-SPSS Statistics version 24 software and analysed descriptively and results presented in tables and figures.
Results: A total of 208 subjects filled out the modified respiratory health questionnaire and 201 were found fit. The age range was 10-65years 
(mean age of 29.79years) with 91 males and 110 Females. The duration of NPMC time ranged from 5-18 minutes with a mean NPMC time of 
11.35minutes (SD=3.00±0.25minutes). The average NPMC time range was between 10-14 minutes for both gender with a P-value of 0.816 and 
chi square of 0.4084. The average duration NPMC time increased with age with 10-19 yrs with least average NPMC time of 10.43minutes, while 
60-69yrs had an average of 14.50minutes with a α 2 = 28.45 and a P-value of 0.000396.
Conclusion: The minimum time for NPMC was 5minutes and the maximum time was 18 minutes with a mean NPMC duration of 11.35 minutes.  There was a positive correlation between -age and NPMC time and no correlation between gender and NPMC time.