FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH GROWTH IN CHILDREN BORN TO MOTHERS WITH A VERTICALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the factors associated with child growth in children of women diagnosed with vertical transmission disease. Material and Methods: Longitudinal, retrospective and quantitative study. The sample consisted of medical records of children of women with HIV/ AIDS, syphilis and gestational toxoplasmosis from the high-risk outpatient clinic of northwestern Paraná, Brazil. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were performed. Results: We analyzed 136 medical records of children of women with vertically transmitted disease, 59.6% with syphilis, 22.8% toxoplasmosis and 17.6% HIV. Children born to mothers with toxoplasmosis and HIV/AIDS had 2.7 and 4.1 greater chances, respectively, of developing
growth alterations in childhood. Growth alterations were observed in 61% of referrals, which were associated with birth variables. The non-normal percentiles presented a predominance of the nutritional diagnosis of marked thinness. Conclusions: Factors associated with growth alterations identified in this study were cesarean delivery, Apgar in the first and fifth minutes of less than seven, gestational age less than 36 weeks and non-white ethnicity. Sex and weight were not associated.