Avaliação do desenvolvimento da linguagem de crianças de 2 a 3 anos nascidas prematuras e com baixo peso em Cuiabá-MT : um estudo transversal

Abstract

The alterations of language development should be diagnosed early to prevent future social and school impairments. Objective - To examine the language development at chronological age of 2 to 3 years, of the children born preterm and with low birth weight, in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. Methods - A crosssectional study was done and the data were collected from medical records and interviews with parents. The children were assessed using the Test Denver II (Denver Developmental Screening Test) and ELM (Early Language Milestone Scale). To verify the association between independent variables and performance tests (dependent variable) was used chi-square test (p <0.05). All variables with p<0.20 entered in the model of binary logistic regression, the variables in the final model with p<0.05 were considered significant. Kappa test was used to compare the language performance between the two tests. Analyses were performed with SPSS, version 17.0 and Microsoft Excel, version 2010. Results – The sample was predominantly male sex, race/color mixed and black, born of cesarean delivery, without perinatal asphyxia, almost half living in households with incomes below the Brazilian poverty line. Out of the 77 children appraised, 36.4% had abnormal global performance in the Denver II test, and in the ELM, 32.5% had a poor performance, with greater impairment in expressive auditory function. The variables that showed association in both tests were: birth weight under 1,500 grams, cesarean delivery, parents´ suspicion of the language development delay and neonatal infection. Gestational age less than 34 weeks presented association only in the Denver II test. Intracranial hemorrhage and neonatal jaundice showed association only in the ELM. It was found a concordance of 88.6% in the language performance of the two tests applied. After logistic regression analysis the variable of parents´ suspicion of the language development delay was associated with a poor performance in both tests. The variables that remained associated only with altered performance on Denver II test were: birth weight below 1,500 grams and cesarean delivery. The variables that remained associated only with altered performance in ELM were: intracranial hemorrhage and per capita monthly family income less than or equal to half the minimum salary. Conclusion – Both assessment tools were able to identify whether there is a problem of language development in children evaluated but the ELM helped identify which function was impaired to plan the proper phonoaudiologic intervention.