Association Between Obstetric Risk Level and Psychomotor Development Impairments in Children Under Five Years

Introduction. Psychomotor development in early childhood is a key indicator of health and neurodevelopmental status. Perinatal risk factors can compromise this process, influencing the child's functional prognosis. This study analyses the relationship between perinatal risk level and alteration of psychomotor development in children under 5 years of age, attended at the Caranqui Health Center of Ibarra in 2022. Methodology. Observational, relational, cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, which included 555 children whose psychomotor development assessment was assessed using the Denver Test II and data on perinatal risk were reflected in the clinical history; children with a diagnosis of congenital malformations and other personal pathological antecedents were excluded. Means, frequencies and percentages were calculated; the association between variables was estimated using the chi-square test, with a 95% confidence interval and a p value ≤ 0.05. Results. 53.7% of the children were male and the mean age ranged between 1 and 2 years. The Denver II test showed that 19.63% of the patients had some type of psychomotor developmental disorder. Perinatal complications, pregnancy-associated diseases, comorbidities, gestational age at risk and extreme maternal age were the preponderant risk factors. Conclusions. A statistically significant relationship was found between the variables of perinatal risk factors and psychomotor development impairment.