Cuidado responsivo na primeira infância: estudo com crianças atendidas na atenção primária à saúde

Abstract

Introduction: Responsive care is fundamental in early childhood and refers to the ability of caregivers to perceive, understand, and respond appropriately to children's signals. In this sense, investigating this theme is essential to evaluate care practices and understand their effects on different areas of child development. Objective: To evaluate the responsive care of children aged 0 to 3 years followed by Primary Health Care in the municipality of Lavras, Minas Gerais. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, linked to the project "Child Health Handbook: implications on food and nutritional security in early childhood". A total of 311 families of 324 children from 6 units of the Family Health Strategy were interviewed. Between March 2022 and March 2023, data were collected through forms. Receipt of responsive care was measured using the Child Development Assessment Questionnaire (PIPAS). The questions in block II, sectors IV and V of this instrument were included to evaluate the activities carried out with these children. Thus, sociodemographic variables served to characterize the sample and analyze the association between sociodemographic factors and the provision of responsive care. The data were double-entered into the EpiInfo software by previously trained typists. After verifying the consistency, statistical analysis was performed using the Stata software, version 13.0. The descriptive analysis included the relative frequencies of the exploratory variables, and the differences between categories were verified using the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Responsive care was categorized as: low responsiveness, for receiving zero to three care, and high responsiveness, for four or more care received. The association between receiving responsive care and exploratory variables was analyzed using crude and adjusted logistic regression, with a significance level of 5%. Results: It was highlighted that 56.79% of the children received positive stimuli; however, the absence of books (23.68%) and the excessive use of screens (68.54%) were frequent factors in the children's daily lives. It is noteworthy that family income was the only variable with a statistically significant association with responsive care. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that responsive care significantly contributes to children's emotional safety, autonomy, and social development. Thus, it is necessary to direct interventions that promote healthy development, minimizing the barriers imposed by economic and social vulnerability.