Clinical impairment of children and adolescents with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease and social aspects associates

Abstract

The use of the Escala Pediátrica Charcot-Marie-Tooth (EPCMT) is extremely relevant for monitoring the evolution of the clinical impairment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease(CMT). Recently validated for Brazilian Portuguese, the EPCMT can be used to obtain reliable data on the clinical impairment of CMT in Brazil, as this population was not included in previous studies. Considering the social aspects of Brazil, and their influence on the impairment of progressive chronic diseases, it is also important to verify whether the clinical findings are associated with the social status of the patient/caregiver. Thus, this study aims (1) to use EPCMT, to perform the assessment of clinical impairment of patients assisted in the rehabilitation center of a third level health service in the northeastern region of São Paulo; (2) to verify whether clinical impairment differs between patients/caregivers with different levels of income and education and (3) to verify if there is an association between clinical impairment and the level of burden of caregivers participating in this study. For this, in a sample of 40children and adolescents with CMT, ages 3 to 18 years, clinical impairment will be assessed using the EPCMT; for social assessment, an interview will be conducted, with questions about social and family aspects. Data will be evaluated through descriptive analysis, followed by ANOVA to compare clinical impairment between different levels of income and education of patients/caregivers and Sperman's or Pearson's correlation coefficient will verify possible associations between clinical impairment and the level of burden of caregivers. (AU)