EVALUATION OF PARTICIPATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT OF INFANTS AT 6 MONTHS OF AGE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

S.R. Sales Fritsch¹, C. Fioroni Ribeiro da Silva¹, E. Tudella¹, M. Duque Weber¹

¹Federal University of São Carlos, Physiotherapy Department, São Carlos, Brazil

Background: Participation is essential to child development, quality of life, and health. It is characterized by frequency and engagement in an activity. The environmental context influences infant participation. At the age of six months, there is a significant increase in the acquisition of motor skills when compared to previous months. Hence by such age, infants are more capable of participating in the environmental context.

Purpose: To evaluate participation and the environmental context of 6-month-old infants in the home environment.

Methods: 14 term infants with gestational age 38.79 (0,80±) week, out of which 8 were female, partook in this transversal study. Participation was evaluated by Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) and the home context was evaluated by the Brazilian version of the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development – Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) questionnaire. Obtained data was descriptively and statistically analysed.

Results: The average age of participants was 6.06 (0.10±X) months. YC-PEM evaluations regarding routine activities and basic care yielded an average frequency score of 6.98 (±0.06) and average engagement score of 6.44 (±0.85); interactive and organized play yielded an average frequency score of 4.61 (±0.88) and average engagement score of 4.77 (±0.43); socialization with family and friends yielded an average frequency score of 3.00 (±1.68) and average engagement score of 3.46 (±1.68). Assessment of physical space by AHEMD-IS resulted in 37.5% which were considered below adequate (BA); 21.4%, moderately adequate (MA); 28.%, adequate (A) and 14.3%, excellent. Assessment of stimuli variety by AHEMD-IS resulted in 14.3% (BA); 7.1% (MA); 28.6% (A) and 50% (E).

Conclusions: 6 months old infants are more participative and engaged in routine, basic care and play related activities in comparison to socializing ones. The dimension of stimuli variation was found to be mostly adequate or excellent, in agreement with YC-PEM findings regarding routine participation, basic care, and interactive and organized play. Conversely, infants participated and engaged less in socialization activities with family and friends. This is likely due to parents’ reluctance to exposure to the post-pandemic transition. Further studies, with larger sample sizes, are necessary in order to corroborate the present findings.

Implications: Further studies about early infancy participation should be carried out, especially do it being a period of increased neuroplasticity. Parents should be made aware of the importance of external spaces, which may offer a greater variety of stimuli. Current findings may reflect the impact of social isolation on infant participation.

Keywords:
Infant
Participation
Home Environment

Topics:
Paediatrics

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Federal University of São Carlos

Committee: ethics committee of the Federal University of São Carlos

Ethics number: CAAE:58902422.8.0000.5504; opinion number: 5.484.313