Use of a child health surveillance instrument focusing on growth. A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Proper use of a child health handbook is an important indicator of the quality of care provided to children at healthcare services. This study aimed to evaluate the use of child health surveillance tool (by health professionals?), especially focusing on growth. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study carried out in the context of the Family Health Strategy in two municipalities in Paraíba, Brazil. METHODS: Three hundred and twenty-one children under five years of age from areas covered by health workers were included in the study. Mothers answered a questionnaire asking for information on sociodemographic characteristics. Growth charts, records of iron and vitamin A supplementation and notes on immunization schedules registered in the instrument were analyzed. In the case of children for whom the third version of the child health handbook was used, the association between completion of this handbook and sociodemographic characteristics was analyzed. RESULTS: All the parameters studied showed high frequencies of inadequate data entry, ranging from 41.1% for the weight-versus-age chart to 95.3% for the body mass index-versus-age chart. Higher frequency of inadequate data entry was found among children aged 25 months and over and among those living in areas of these municipalities with minimal numbers of professionals in the healthcare teams. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a child health handbook to monitor children's growth in the municipalities studied appeared to be faulty. Data entry to this instrument was better at locations with larger healthcare teams.

A systematic review of home-based records in maternal and child health for improving informational continuity, health outcomes, and perceived usefulness in low and middle-income countries

“…Two were randomised controlled trials [ 21 , 22 ]; three cluster randomised trials [ 23 – 25 ] and one reporting three year follow-up results of a cluster randomised trial [ 26 ]; eight pre-post studies [ 27 – 34 ]; 25 cross sectional studies [ 35 – 59 ]; two qualitative studies [ 60 , 61 ] and one mixed method study [ 62 ]. Sixteen countries; Bangladesh (n = 2) [ 28 , 59 ]; Brazil (n = 10) [ 45 , 49 , 50 , 53 – 57 , 60 , 61 ]; Burkina Faso(n = 1) [ 44 ]; Burundi (n = 1) [ 30 ]; Cambodia (n = 1) [ 31 ]; The Gambia (n = 1) [ 62 ];Indonesia (n = 7) [ 23 , 25 , 34 , 36 , 46 , 47 , 52 ]; Kenya (n = 3) [ 39 , 40 , 48 ]; Lebanon(n = 1) [ 43 ]; Malawi(n = 1) [ 58 ]; Mongolia(n = 3) [ 24 , 26 , 35 ]; Nigeria (n = 1) [ 51 ];Pakistan(n = 2) [ 21 , 22 ]; Palestine(n = 2) [ 29 , 37 ]; South Africa (n = 4) [ 32 , 38 , 41 , ...…”

Roles of the Maternal and Child Health Handbook and Other Home-Based Records on Newborn and Child Health: A Systematic Review

“…In contrast, growth monitoring seemed to concern mothers who received a home-based record. Mothers ignored developmental indicators that they did not understand, such as head circumference [ 72 ] and growth curves (e.g., weight-versus-age chart, BMI-versus-age chart) [ 73 , 75 ]. Further explanation may have supported mothers to address this issue.…”

“…In Australia and Brazil, growth monitoring was a concern among mothers. Typically, mothers ignored developmental indicators (e.g., head circumference, weight-versus-age chart, BMI-versus-age chart) that they did not understand [ 72 , 73 ]. The findings in this review highlighted the importance of providing adequate written information in the home-based records and an explanation from the healthcare providers to support mothers’ understanding.…”

Preenchimento da Caderneta de Saúde da Criança e antropometria de crianças

“…Considerando os parâmetros relacionados ao crescimento, ressalta-se nos resultados do atual estudo a subutilização dos gráficos da CSC, coincidindo com relatos anteriores. 2,6,19,20,[24][25][26][27] 4,7,19 Além disso, experiências de outros países tem indicado que práticas adequadas de vigilância do crescimento podem favorecer o estado nutricional das crianças. 10 Deve-se ter presente que o ponto de corte usado para indicar adequação do preenchimento da CSC neste estudo pode ser considerado baixo, o que questiona a possibilidade de assumir os problemas de preenchimento como sinal de pior assistência.…”