Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders among children in a Brazilian orphanage |
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Authors: | Kerstin Strömland Liana O. Ventura Layla Mirzaei Keyla Fontes de Oliveira José Marcelino Bandim Adriana Parente Ivo Carlos Brandt |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden;2. Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Altino Ventura Foundation and Hospital de Olhos de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil;3. Department of Surgery, Skaraborg Hospital, Sk?vde, Sweden;4. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Altino Ventura Foundation, Recife, Brazil;5. Department of Neuropsychiatry of the Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Instituto Materno Infantil de Pernambuco and Altino Ventura Foundation, Recife, Brazil;6. Department of Psychology, Altino Ventura Foundation, Recife, Brazil;7. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Pediatrics, Altino Ventura Foundation, Recife, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Background: The objective was to investigate the frequency of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and ophthalmologic anomalies in orphanage children in Brazil. Methods: A prospective study was performed on 94 children living in an orphanage in Brazil. The children were examined by a multidisciplinary team consisting of specialists in pediatrics, neurology, psychology, neuropsychiatry, and ophthalmology. Results: The main reasons for living in the orphanage, in 61% of the children, were negligence, child abuse, and abandonment. Of all the children studied, 50% had mothers with known alcohol abuse and 47% had one or more diagnoses of neurodevelopmental/behavioral and/or cognitive deficits. General developmental delay was found in 18%, intellectual disability in 3%, cognitive impairment in 27%, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder in 14%, and autism in 3%. Altogether 17% had FASD, comprising three children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), six with partial FAS, and seven with alcohol‐related neurodevelopmental disorder. 16% had ophthalmological findings such as poor vision, strabismus, and dysmorphology of the optic nerves. Twenty‐eight children (30%) were adopted from the orphanage; of these, six had FASD (two FAS, three partial FAS, one alcohol‐related neurodevelopmental disorder), five had attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and eight had developmental delay. Conclusion: Nearly half of the children living in the orphanage had neurodevelopmental disorders and a considerable number showed signs of damage from prenatal alcohol exposure. A broader look at the problem of FASD in Brazil and other South American countries is desirable to document the burden of disease and provide data for targeting prevention efforts. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 103:178–185, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
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Keywords: | fetal alcohol spectrum disorders fetal alcohol syndrome adopted children orphanage developmental delay ophthalmology |
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