Impact of intensive physiotherapy training for children with congenital Zika syndrome: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Objective To investigate the impact of intensive physiotherapy training on the motor function of children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Design A retrospective cohort study. Setting A support center for children with microcephaly. Participants Seven children 14-18 months old, diagnosed with CZS and previously monitored over one year. Interventions A two-stage protocol repeated uninterruptedly for one year. In the first stage, the children were submitted to one hour of conventional physiotherapy and one hour of suit therapy five times/week for four weeks. The second stage consisted of one hour of suit therapy three times/week for two weeks. Main outcome measures Gross motor function measure (GMFM) and body weight. Results Six evaluations were conducted with approximately three months between them. An increase in the overall GMFM score was seen between the first and second (p=0.046), first and third (p=0.018), first and fourth (p=0.018), first and fifth (p=0.043) and first and sixth evaluations (p=0.018). Differences in the scores of the individual GMFM dimensions were found only for dimension A (lying and rolling) between the first and fourth evaluations (p=0.027) and for dimension B (sitting) between the first and third (p=0.018), first and fourth (p=0.046) and first and sixth evaluations (p=0.027). No difference was found in body weight between the first and sixth evaluations (p=0.009). During follow-up, only one child required hospitalization, and another had increased irritability. Conclusion Children with CZS were able to perform two hours of motor physiotherapy daily with no serious complications, resulting in an increase or stabilization in GMFM scores.