Abstract
Objective
To investigate the effect of intensive physiotherapy training on the motor function
of children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS).
Design
A retrospective cohort study.
Setting
A support center for children with microcephaly.
Participants
Children (N=7) aged 14 to 18 months old who were diagnosed with CZS and previously
monitored more than 1 year.
Interventions
A 2-stage protocol repeated uninterruptedly for 1 year. In the first stage, the children
were submitted to 1 hour of conventional physiotherapy and 1 hour of suit therapy
5 times a week for 4 weeks. The second stage consisted of 1 hour of suit therapy 3
times a week for 2 weeks.
Main Outcome Measures
Gross motor function measure (GMFM) and body weight.
Results
Six evaluations were conducted approximately 3 months apart. An increase in the overall
GMFM score was observed between the first and second (P=.046), first and third (P=.018), first and fourth (P=.018), first and fifth (P=.043), and first and sixth evaluations (P=.018). Differences in the scores of the individual GMFM dimensions were found only
for dimension A (lying and rolling) between the first and fourth evaluations (P=.027) and for dimension B (sitting) between the first and third (P=.018), first and fourth (P=.046), and first and sixth evaluations (P=.027). No difference was found in body weight between the first and sixth evaluations
(P=.009). During follow-up, only 1 child required hospitalization, and another had increased
irritability.
Conclusions
Children with CZS were able to perform 2 hours of motor physiotherapy daily with no
serious complications, resulting in an increase or stabilization in GMFM scores.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CZS (congenital Zika syndrome), GMFM (gross motor function measure)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 29, 2020
Footnotes
Supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)/Ministry of Education (MEC) (grant no. 443372/2016-0), grants awarded to P. L. Assunção, R. A. Silva Júnior, and J. S. Tavares by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (grant no. 440619/2016-5), and grants awarded to G. L. Gama. This study was also supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Secretariat of Science, Technology and Strategic Supplies, Ministry of Health.
Disclosure: none.
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© 2020 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
