Análise do controle de tronco em crianças com microcefalia

Abstract

Children with microcephaly are at risk for impaired development of trunk control, which can lead to significant limitations in activity and participation. Despite this, studies that investigated trunk control in this population are not found in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate trunk control in children with a clinical diagnosis of microcephaly who are included in a physiotherapeutic rehabilitation program and a multidisciplinary team, verifying if there were changes in 30 days. The study was a prospective longitudinal observational type. Twenty-five children diagnosed with microcephaly aged 4.7 ± 2.05 years were included. Two assessments were performed: a) initial assessment, and b) reassessment after 30 days. In between the evaluations, the children continued to receive physical therapy intervention and/or a multidisciplinary team. To assess the level of trunk control, the Brazilian version of the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo-BR) was used, which detects the exact level of trunk control that presents motor impairment. Descriptive analysis was performed to characterize the functional level and the static, active and reactive balance tests of the SATCo-BR; to compare the functional level and the balance tests between the initial assessment and the reassessment, the Wilcoxon test was applied; and to compare the balance tests in each evaluation, Friedman's ANOVA with Wilcoxon's post-hoc and Bonferroni adjustment (p<0.017) was used when there were significant differences. The results showed that 46.6% of the children did not have any trunk control and 40% had only head or upper trunk control. There were no differences between the assessments regarding the functional level. Children who did not have static and active trunk control at some functional level at the initial assessment started to show it during the reassessment. We concluded that children with microcephaly showed significant impairment in trunk control, especially in the presence of external balance disorders.