Covid-19 pandemic impacts on follow-up of child growth and development

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the use of primary health care services to follow-up the child growth and development in Brazil. METHOD A total of 7.9 million consultations of children (0-2 years old) across Brazil between March 2017 and May 2020 were studied. Differences between medians were analyzed using non-parametric tests, the Global Moran Index (IGM) and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association. RESULTS During the initial period of the pandemic, the median number of consultations was significantly lower than the same period in previous years, reducing more than 50%. The drop in 2020, compared to 2019, ranged from 49% to 62.2% across all regions of the country, except the South. The percentage reduction registered in 2019-2020 showed significant spatial autocorrelation (IGM = 0.20; p = 0.04), with the presence of low-low (states with reduction between 29% and 51%) and high-high (states with reduction between 55% and 69%) spatial clusters. CONCLUSION The covid-19 pandemic impacted the follow-up of child growth and development in primary health care services in Brazil, with a geographically uneven reduction.