RELATION OF THE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT OF SEROPOSITIVE CHILDREN AND THE PERFORMANCE OF HEALTHY CHILDREN WITH NORMAL MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Turolla de Souza R.C.¹, Fraga-Sousa G.A.¹, Rangel Rodrigues M.C.¹, Pereira, M.G.¹, Arruda T.S.¹, Ciasca S.M.¹, Oberg T.D.¹

¹State University of Campinas, Neurology, Campinas, Brazil

Background: Evidence indicates that HIV-positive children have a lower motor performance compared to uninfected children. The analysis of the factors that determine these changes is very important for the implementation of rehabilitation strategies.

Purpose: To analyze the motor development of seropositive children and compare it to the performance of healthy children with normal neuropsycomotor development.

Methods: Eight children were evaluated aged between four and six years, divided into two groups: Group I (n = 4) composed of HIV-positive children without any secondary disease and Group II (n = 4) composed of healthy children, matched to Group I by sex and age. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-2) for gross motor function and fine motor function were used to evaluate motor performance.

Results: In both groups, most of the children presented an average or above average motor performance, according to normal data of PDMS-2. The analysis indicated no inter-group differences in the gross scores (p > 0,05, Mann-Whitney test) or motor quotients (p> 0.05, Mann-Whitney test). However, intra-group analysis indicated a marginally significant difference between motor quotients (p = 0,07, Wilcoxon test), with higher fine motor quotient in both groups.

Conclusion(s): The data suggest no significant difference between the motor performance of HIV-positive children and healthy children. These results contribute to the analysis of motor development of HIV-positive children, raising questions about factors that may influence the motor development of these children.

Implications: Describe the motor development of children with diagnosis of HIV-positive is very important for a propose physiotherapy treatment and the intervention strategies adopted.

Funding acknowledgements: No

Topic: Oncology, HIV & palliative care

Ethics approval: Ethics Committee of UNICAMP (Protocol no: 497/2011).

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