Percepção dos pais e cuidadores sobre o impacto do isolamento social imposto pela pandemia de Covid-19 em crianças e adolescentes com autismo no estado do Ceará

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and disease containment measures have negatively affected people, including individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The objective of this work was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing for children and adolescents with ASD and their caregivers in the State of Ceará. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out with parents/caregivers of children and adolescents with ASD, using a remote questionnaire. Data were collected during the period from October 2020 to January 2021, and the information is related to the most critical period of the pandemic in Ceará State in 2020, corresponding to the months of March to June. The questionnaire contained questions about sociodemographic and economic data of the family, clinical characteristics of children with ASD and situations faced in routine before and during the pandemic. The 122 children were between 2 and 18 years old, with a mean age of 6.7 years. 60.4% had language problems, 23.1% had comorbidities, mainly ADHD, and 49.9% used medication for behavior and/or sleep problems. During the isolation period, 87.7% had to interrupt treatments with multidisciplinary interventions. 86.8% of caregivers reported more difficulties in managing children's free time. Behavior problems became more intense in 61.5% and more frequent in 59.8%. Difficulties in managing meals were pointed out by 39.3% of the participants, 97.1% said that the difficulties with managing autonomy were greater. 81.1% of the cases had regression of behavior and worsening of symptoms. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing caused changes in the pattern of behavior, eating and self-care of children with ASD, which made this period more challenging for their caregivers.