Enfants handicapés abandonnés : quel profil dans une pouponnière en Côte d’Ivoire ?

Abstract

The admission of children with disabilities to a dedicated nursery in Côte d’Ivoire has made it possible to respond to the fight against infanticide or neglect without care. The aim of this work was to define the profile of disabled children abandoned and admitted to the Dabou nursery in Côte d’Ivoire.

Material and methods

Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out over a 9-month period in the Dabou nursery in Côte d’Ivoire and including 74 children and adolescents with disabilities. The epidemiological, clinical and functional data and the treatment needs of infants were described.

Results

Children aged 0 to 3 and 6 to 10 years were the most numerous (45% of cases) with a predominance of males (sex ratio = 1.31). They came mainly from the capital of the country. The infants’ clinical aspects were polymorphic, sometimes associated with limb malformations (68.9%), various motor impairments, neuro-orthopaedic deformities (59.46%), and psychomotor acquisition delays. The therapeutic needs expressed were varied and superimposed on the clinical aspects of the children and were broken down into rehabilitation activities, orthopaedic devices and care.

Conclusion

The implementation of an adapted rehabilitation care strategy is necessary to support disabled children who have been abandoned and admitted to a dedicated nursery.