104 - PRACTICALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION PROTOCOL FOR NEONATAL NEUROMOTOR SCANNING.

Abstract

Introduction: The growing number of premature conceptions could increase the probability of newborn cerebral injuries. From 25% to 30% of high risk newborns show signs of neuromotor dysfunctions. Objective: Verify the pros and cons of the Neonatal Neuromotor Scanning Protocol, as opposed to the Neonatal Neurobehavioral Exam, for early diagnosis of neuromotor dysfunctions. Methodology: The Neonatal Neuromotor Scanning Protocol was developed including objective data directly related to changes and manifestations of tonus alterations and also about motor reflex responses. The proposed protocol is easy to apply and to interpret. It presents 5 scores for each evaluated item, producing a final punctuation which corresponds to a neuromotor classification. During the elaboration of this protocol there were performed reliability tests using the Dubowitz Neonatal Neurobehavioral Exam (1999) as gold standard. The sample was composed of 30 premature newborns in need of special care, hospitalized at the NICU of the Hospital, located in the county of Petrópolis, RJ-Brazil. Initially, data was collected randomly by sorting two names of mothers out from the total mothers' names. The data collected was submitted to Pearson's' qui-squared testing for statistical analysis. Results: From all individuals tested, 100% were able to complete the entire evaluation using the Neonatal Neuromotor Scanning Protocol (1998/2008). On the other hand, only 50% of the individuals tested were able to complete the Dubowitz protocol (1999). As for the time spent during examinations, this study has demonstrated that the Neonatal Neuromotor Scanning Protocol took an average time of seven minutes to be applied per individual, while the Neonatal Neurobehavioral Exam took approximately 30 minutes. Conclusion: Because of its practicality and effectiveness, the Neonatal Neuromotor Scanning Protocol has been implemented at the public health units of Petrópolis which offer neonatal assistance, such as NICUs, since 2005.