Aleitamento materno e qualidade de vida de mães de crianças com a Síndrome Congênita da Zika

Abstract

Introduction: Congenital zika syndrome encompasses a set of clinical and neurological manifestations with varying severity levels, affecting the overall child’s development. Alterations include the reduced head diameter, changes in muscle tone of the oral region and lack of coordination for sucking, swallowing and breathing, causing direct reflexes in eating habits, especially during breastfeeding. A condition of such magnitude and severity may have adverse effects on the well-being and quality of life of family members. Objective: To describe the occurence of exclusive breastfeeding and to evaluate the quality of life of mothers of children with congenital zika syndrome. Methodology: A cross-sectional study using intensive direct observation technique was conducted through a structured interview in the municipality of Campina Grande / Paraíba. The recruitment of research participants took place in two reference centers that assist this population. A structured form was used to evaluate the breastfeeding pattern, while quality of life was investigated using the WHOQOL bref questionnaire. Data were entered into a database in the IBM SPSS Software, version 21 and was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Absolute and percentage frequencies were calculated for categorical variables, while central tendency measures were estimated for quantitative variables. Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests were used to investigate possible associations between the occurrence of "early weaning" and variables "bottle feeding" and "pacifier use‖. Associations between maternal and child characteristics and quality of life outcome were also evaluated. The significance level was 5%. Results: About 90.0% of children were breastfed; however, but exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life occurred in a small part of the sample (36.6%). Early weaning was associated with bottle feeding (p = 0.005) and pacifier use (p = 0.003). Regarding the quality of life of mothers, the "Physical" domain revealed the highest score (65.98 ± 17.62), while the "Environment" domain showed the lowest score (48.55 ± 14.75). Quality of life for the physical domain was associated with maternal schooling (p = 0.033) and child's gender (p = 0.041), while psychological domain was associated with family income (p = 0.032) and sucking difficulty (p = 0.043). Conclusions: Although the practice of breastfeeding at birth is a behavior adopted by mothers, the frequency of exclusive breastfeeding was low. Socioeconomic characteristics and comorbidities exhibited by children were associated with the quality of life of mothers. It is imperative to formulate strategies aimed at improving the quality of life of this population.