ABSTRACT
Child development should be promoted by the family with formal support from childcare services. This study aims to analyze the motor performance of infants submitted to parental intervention in childcare. This is an observational, longitudinal and descriptive case series study with 215 infants aged 0-18 months, who were cared for at a Primary Health Care Unit in a Brazilian Northeastern capital. The infants’ motor performance was assessed by the Alberta infant motor scale and instructions were transmitted to parents according to the observed motor delay. We observed that 77.7% of the infants had their first appointment in their first semester of life, 57.6% had low risk and 76.7% had normal motor performance. Significant relationships between risk stratification and gestational age and between risk stratification and motor performance were found. The intervals between evaluations ranged from 7-252 days. A higher percentage of infants with motor delays was found in those who were taken to childcare after the third trimester of life. All infants who attended childcare and were identified with suspected delay or atypical development improved motor performance by the third evaluation. Infants who are taken to childcare early, for guidance on parental intervention, recover from motor development delay, but most families either do not attend childcare follow-up, or are long overdue for their appointment.
Keywords
Motor Activity; Postural Balance; Parental Intervention; Case Reports
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