Factors Associated with Behavioral Disorders in Children with Congenital Zika Syndrome and Their Families—A Cross-Sectional Study

Nívia Maria Rodrigues Arrais, Claudia Rodrigues Souza Maia, Nathália Allana de Amorim Rodrigues, Rafaela Silva Moreira, Valeria Azevedo de Almeida, Silvana Alves Pereira and Maria Isabel de Moraes Pinto
Additional contact information
Nívia Maria Rodrigues Arrais: Pediatrics Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59077-010, Brazil
Claudia Rodrigues Souza Maia: Pediatrics Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59077-010, Brazil
Nathália Allana de Amorim Rodrigues: Physical Therapy Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59077-010, Brazil
Rafaela Silva Moreira: Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Ararangua 88905-120, Brazil
Valeria Azevedo de Almeida: Physical Therapy Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59077-010, Brazil
Silvana Alves Pereira: Pediatrics Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59077-010, Brazil
Maria Isabel de Moraes Pinto: Pediatrics Department, Universidade Federal de São Paulo—UNIFESP, Sao Paulo 04021-001, Brazil

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-11

Abstract: The Zika virus was responsible for an outbreak between 2015 and 2016 in Brazil: an alarming public health problem of international relevance. The Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) is often associated with manifestations that are responsible for cognitive and motor development delays and behavioral disorders. Thus, we aimed to characterize the clinical-epidemiological and familial context of those children and to identify factors associated with the risk of behavioral disorders using the Survey of Well-Being of Young Children questionnaire (SWYC). In total, 52 children diagnosed with CZS were evaluated. Logistic regressions were employed to assess predictive variables for behavioral alteration. Eighteen (35%) of the children presented a risk of behavioral alteration. Children born normocephalic were 36-fold more likely to present behavioral alteration (95% CI: 3.82 to 337.92, p = 0.002). Children with hearing and visual impairments showed reduced risks. In total, 35% percent of families reported food insecurity and 21% were at risk for maternal depression. Our findings suggest better social interactions and conditions to externalize reactions for children with CZS born normocephalic. The continuous assessment of these children and families may identify conditions associated with behavioral alteration and psychosocial vulnerabilities that help in decision-making, therefore optimizing patient–family interactions.

Keywords: Zika virus; child development; behavior; psychosocial risk; survey of well-being of young children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9554/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9554/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9554-:d:879544

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().