Vigilância do desenvolvimento infantil na prática dos profissionais atuantes na atenção primária do município de Fortaleza

Abstract

Child development surveillance is an ongoing process of early detection of neuropsychomotor changes. It encompasses all activities related to promoting development and detecting problems during primary health care of the child, emphasizing careful and longitudinal observation. Therefore, primary care is the level of attention that enables professionals to effectively carry out this surveillance. What is observed, however, in some studies, is that there is a low performance of these professionals regarding the surveillance of child development, in their care practices to the child. This work aimed to describe the practice of child development surveillance in child care consultations performed by professionals working in primary care in the city of Fortaleza. This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, in the primary care units of the city of Fortaleza. The population was comprised of doctors and nurses who carry out childcare consultations, working at this level of care. The sample consisted of 135 professionals, allocated in thirty primary care units, also distributed in the six regional areas of said municipality. Data collection was performed through the application of a questionnaire, answered by these professionals, and the data processing was done by the program Microsoft Office Excel 2016. The results of this research revealed that 98.5% of the professionals carry out some evaluation of the child development in childcare consultations, of which a 79.3% share uses the instrument present in the CSC, as recommended by the MS. It is noteworthy that almost half of professionals (43.5%) who do not use CSC do not use another instrument. Regarding the proper referrals for children classified as Developmental Alerts and Likely Delayed Development, it is noted that there is an average of 16% of professionals who do not carry out such referrals. It is noted that there is still much to be studied and carried out in the area of child development surveillance so that children are properly diagnosed late, in a timely manner. It is hoped that this work will contribute significantly to a better monitoring of child development, as well as contribute as a scientific production on this theme, which still presents many gaps to be filled.