The evaluation of the withdrawal reaction in small children using a standardized instrument should take into account the child's psychopatologic context and its child's development moment. We present the BADS questionnaire validation by its application in 35 children aged 0 to 2 years-old with pediatric diseases, coming from Santa Casa de São Paulo. The results were compared with those of 90 normal children who were evaluated in a previous study of the same author. The test used was the independent t test, with mean scores of 5.90 ± 2.57 for normal children and 6.37 ± 4.83 for sick children, with p= 0,651 and significance level of 5%. Thus, it was observed that the withdrawal reaction in sick children is not significantly different for that for normal children. With these results, the scale shows its importance as a screening instrument.
withdrawal reaction; child
