ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Proper use of a
child health handbook is an important
indicator of the
quality of care provided to
children at
healthcare services. This study aimed to evaluate the use of
child health surveillance tool (by
health professionals?), especially focusing on
growth . DESIGN AND
SETTING: Cross-sectional study carried out in the context of the
Family Health Strategy in two municipalities in Paraíba,
Brazil .
METHODS: Three hundred and twenty-one
children under five years of age from areas covered by
health workers were included in the study.
Mothers answered a
questionnaire asking for information on sociodemographic characteristics.
Growth charts ,
records of
iron and
vitamin A supplementation and notes on
immunization schedules registered in the instrument were analyzed. In the case of
children for whom the third version of the
child health handbook was used, the
association between completion of this
handbook and sociodemographic characteristics was analyzed.
RESULTS: All the
parameters studied showed high frequencies of inadequate data entry, ranging from 41.1% for the weight-versus- age chart to 95.3% for the
body mass index -versus-age chart. Higher frequency of inadequate data entry was found among
children aged 25 months and over and among those living in areas of these municipalities with minimal numbers of professionals in the
healthcare teams .
CONCLUSIONS: The use of a
child health handbook to monitor
children 's
growth in the municipalities studied appeared to be faulty. Data entry to this instrument was better at locations with larger
healthcare teams .