Desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor de crianças das unidades de educação infantil do município de Belém: características pessoais e fatores ambientais associados

Abstract

Child development is considered a sequence of changes in behavior and underlying processes, being influenced by biological and environmental factors. Screening and monitoring the neurodevelopment (DNPM) have been shown to be effective procedures for early identification of different disorders of childhood development. This study was focused on children aged 36-48 months attending Early Childhood Education Units (SIU), distributed in the Administrative Districts of the city of Belém. It aimed to relate their state of the neurodevelopment to personal characteristics and variables from the ecological environment. The study is cross-sectional, descriptive exploratory. For the development assessment, it was used the Developmental Screening Test II Denver. For the characterization of families, it was used a questionnaire oriented to the biopsychosocial characteristics of the child, and an instrument for measuring the poverty level of their families. The study revealed that of the 319 children evaluated, 77.74% had probable delays in development. The variables that were statistically significant were paternal education (0.000 **), the child's primary caregiver (0.039 *), and pregnancy planning (0.007 *). Regarding the instrument measuring the level of urban poverty, the scores ranged from 28 to 52 points, and showed a statistically significant relation with the outcome (0.003). The high prevalence of probable developmental delays seen in children of the city’s UEI showed the need to introduce early stimulation programs, encouraging the monitoring of child development through screening, in addition to alert for the issue of negative interference of socioeconomic and cultural factors in child growth and development.