Children with congenital Zika syndrome: symptoms, comorbidities and gross motor development at 24 months of age

BACKGROUND: Children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) maintain severe motor impairments at the end of the first year of life. Presence of certain symptoms and comorbidities increase these children's vulnerability. AIMS: To evaluate gross motor function of a group of Brazilian children with CZS at 24 months of age and to investigate the association between the presence of CZS symptoms and comorbidities with gross motor development. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Fifty children with CZS participated in the study. Information was collected from medical charts, and gross motor development was evaluated by the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-88. GMFM-88 scores were compared among comorbid groups. Three subgroups of children were identified by cluster analysis, based on information from head circumference at birth, symptoms, comorbidities and gross motor function. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Significant associations (p < 0.001) were observed between number of comorbidities/symptoms and dimensions A (r = -0.57) and B (r = -0.58) of the GMFM-88. Children were grouped into 3 clusters, with different gross motor skills. Children with epilepsy and dysphagia composed the cluster with smaller median scores for dimensions A and B of the GMFM-88. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The presence of CZS symptoms and comorbidities compromise the gross motor repertoire of children with CZS at 24 months.