Relationship of family management with sociodemographic aspects and children’s physical dependence in neurological disorders

Abstract

Objective:To investigate the relationship of family management with sociodemographic and physical dependence aspects of children and adolescents with neurological impairment. Method:Descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted at a child neurology center. A non-probabilistic sample was obtained from 141 family members who answered two instruments: a) Sociodemographic condition of families; b) Family Management Measure. In the statistical analysis, we used the Spearman Coefficient and the Mann Whitney Test. Results:the longer the specialized care time, the lower the identity score (rs = - 0.209, p = 0.01); the higher the effort score (rs = 0.181, p = 0.03), the family difficulty score (rs = 0.239, p = 0.001) and the impact of the disease on family life (rs = 0.213, p = 0.01). The families of children and adolescents with physical dependence for activities of daily living presented a higher score in the following dimensions: management effort (<0.001), family difficulty (p = 0.004) and perception of disease impact (p = 0.001). Conclusion:There was evidence of a correlation between management with sociodemographic and child dependence aspects, with an association between management difficulty and longer time of child and adolescent care.

Práticas e comportamentos alimentares de famílias de crianças com perturbação do espectro autista

“…In this study, family income ranged from less than one to two minimum wages, with most families receiving the equivalent to two minimum wages. These amounts are close to those identified in another Brazilian study carried out with 141 children, where most of the participating caregivers received up to one minimum wage, evidencing the influence of the families' sociodemographic context on children's care (Weissheimer et al, 2018). The low family income described in this study's data can relate to the mothers' need to take on the household and childcare activities.…”

“…When comparing the ages of the children participating in this study with those who participated in other studies, similar values were found, ranging from three to seven years, with a mean age between 5.6 and 5.2 years (Faro et al,2019). However, these findings differ from another study conducted in Southern Brazil, whose children's mean age was 9.5 years (Weissheimer et al, 2018). These studies conducted between 2018-2019 reached families of younger children who already received follow-up for ASD.…”