Percepção dos cuidadores quanto ao impacto da pandemia em crianças com microcefalia assistidas pela equoterapia

Abstract

Children affected by microcephaly have a head circumference smaller than that considered normal and considerable delay in neuropsychomotor development, requiring early follow-up with a specialized multidisciplinary team based on the suspicion of delay in motor development. In addition to the assistance of physical therapy on the ground, the association of other supporting modalities, such as hippotherapy, provides important sensory motor stimuli for improving the child's quality of life. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which imposed here in Brazil, in 2020, the need for social distancing, assistance through hippotherapy was interrupted from March to July 2020. The objective of the study was to analyze how the caregivers (mothers, fathers and/or guardians) evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the quality of life of these children and on the practice of hippotherapy. This is a descriptive study of a qualitative and quantitative nature, involving parents/legal guardians of children with microcephaly who are assisted by the multidisciplinary team of ASPEQ/PB. Data were collected through an online questionnaire, applied to parents/guardians of children practicing hippotherapy at ASPEQ/PB. Among the inclusion criteria, the guardians must be over 18 years old, be the main people involved in the care of the child, and the child must have attended at least one month of care at ASPEQ/PB. The organization of the data took place through the distribution of objective and subjective responses distributed by charts, graphs and images. The results found include the high motor impairment of the assessed children, the effects of hippotherapy practice, such as cervical and trunk control and improved posture. The answers indicated that most parents consider that the pandemic affected the child's evolution. It was possible to verify that the severity of the motor impairment presented by the children demands rehabilitation therapies and that, despite the pandemic, this population should receive health care for their quality of life. Hippotherapy proved to be effective in improving motor aspects, gaining functionality, and cognitive and psychological aspects. It was concluded that, in the caregivers' perception, the evolution of children may be affected by the limitations of the pandemic period and that more studies should be carried out on the subject.