Triagem visual de bebês prematuros: verificação da aplicabilidade do "Método de Avaliação da Conduta Visual de Lactentes".

Abstract

There are risk factors linked to visual impairment question on infants like, for example, the prematurity. Studies show incidence of visual impairment on premature infants and very low birth weight ones, adding the importance of ophthalmologic exam, especially on risk infants. The World Health Organization introduces visual screening procedures for children of all ages, introducing other professionals on ocular health practices. There is a need of information from health squads, pediatricians, nurses and others about ophthalmologic exams diagnoses and of evidence sings of diseases, which cause visual impairment. It shows the necessity of screening instrument that allows visual early evaluation for all infants, specially the risk ones. Considering this situation the study had as objective testing the use of Method to Evaluate Visual Ability in Infants in 32 premature infants, from 1 to 3 months (of corrected age), during the routines of pediatric ambulatory attending in a Uberaba (MG) s school hospital. This method is a screenplay of visual ability in infants evaluation with 9 visuomotor behavior items and fine motor performance correspondent to infant skills during the first three months of life, with the positive answers categories (S), negatives (N), partials (P) and omitted (O). It was done at least 1, and on the maximum 2 evaluations in each infant. It were found important values on the number of O answers, in the first month (31,4%) and on item 7 (94,0%). It was analyzed the number of answers for not expected behaviors for each age, more frequently in the 2º month (26%) and in item 8 (89%). It was not observed correlation between the found answers and birth weight or gestational age. The use of this method on an ambulatory situation shows it as an important instrument for a situation of visual screening for risk infants.