Records of growth and development data in the child health handbook

This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Cuiabá, Brazil, on August 13, 2011, with the application of a questionnaire and direct observation of 950 handbooks. We included children under one year of age who resided in Cuiabá, accompanied by their mothers or guardians who were in possession of the handbook. Data were analyzed by calculating the prevalence ratio (PR) and Chi-Square test, with a significance level set at 5%. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee under Opinion No. 882/2010.

RESULTS:

Of the analyzed handbooks, 95.4% of the development data and 79.6% of the data in the growth charts were incomplete or missing.

CONCLUSION:

The low rate of growth and development data input in the handbooks reveals the need to create awareness among the population, health care professionals and managers on the importance of handbooks, and the need to invest in training and the empowerment of professionals in relation to its proper use.

Child health; Growth and development; Public health surveillance; Health records, personal; Primary health care

Variables	n	%	Total
Age of mothers (years)
≤ 19	134	14.1	950
> 19	816	85.9	950
Years of schooling of the mothers
≤ 7	189	19.9	950
> 7	761	80.1	950
Age of the children
≤ 6 months	572	60.2	950
> 6 months	378	39.8	950
Sex of the children
Boy	488	51.4	950
Girl	462	48.6	950
Number of children
One	436	45.9	950
Two or more	514	54.1	950
Mother works outside the home
Yes	388	40.8	950
No	562	59.2	950
Family income* (n = 910)
≤ 2 minimum wages**	610	67.0	910
> 2 minimum wages	300	33.0	910

Variables	Completion of development data
Variables	Incomplete or missing (Score ≤ 0.8)	Complete (Score ≤ 0.8)	Chi-square	p value	PR* (CI95%)
Age of mothers
≤ 19	130	3	1.98	0.159	1.03 (1.00 - 1.06)
> 19	756	40
Years of schooling of the mothers
≤ 7	173	9	0.051	0.821	1.00 (0.96 - 1.03)
> 7	713	34
Number of children
One	414	13	4.492	0.034	1.03 (1.00 - 1.06)
Two or more	472	30
Age of the children
≤ 6 months	527	31	2.72	0.099	0.98 (0.95 - 1.00)
> 6 months	359	12
Sex of the children
Male	451	27	2.320	0.128	0.98 (0.95 - 1.01)
Female	435	16
Family income*** (n = 892)
≤ 2 minimum wages***	571	30	1.691	0.193	0.98 (0.95 - 1.01)
> 2 minimum wages	282	9
Mother works outside the home
Yes	362	16	0.226	0.634	1.01 (0.98 - 1.04)
No	524	27

Variables	Completion of data in the growth curve
Variables	Incomplete or missing (Score ≤ 3)	Complete (Score ≤ 3)	Chi-square	p value	PR* (CI95%)
Age of mothers
≤ 19	101	33	1.698	0.193	0.94 (0.85 - 1.04)
> 19	655	161
Years of schooling of the mothers
≤ 7	143	46	2.228	0.136	0.94 (0.86 - 1.03)
> 7	613	148
Number of children
One	337	99	2.590	0.108	0.95 (0.89 - 1.01)
Two or more	419	95
Age of the children
≤ 6 months	506	66	69.796	0.000	1.34 (1.24 - 1.45)
> 6 months	250	128
Sex of the children
Male	387	101	0.047	0.829	0.99 (0.93 - 1.06)
Female	369	93
Family income (n = 910)**
≤ 2 minimum wages***	487	123	0.031	0.86	0.99 (0.93 - 1.06)
> 2 minimum wages	241	59
Mother works outside the home
Yes	316	72	1.403	0.236	1.04 (0.98 - 1.11)
No	440	122

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Escola de Enfermagem Rua São Manoel, 963 -Campus da Saúde , 90.620-110 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brasil, Fone: (55 51) 3308-5242 / Fax: (55 51) 3308-5436 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: revista@enf.ufrgs.br

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[1] Author's address: Maria Aparecida Munhoz Gaíva Rua 59, 215/303, Jardim Goiás 74810-260 Goiânia - GO Email: mamgaiva@yahoo.com.br