Lexical analysis of the terms “child growth and development”

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the lexicon related to the use of terms “child growth and development”, according to nursing literature. Methods: This is an integrative review developed in the LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE®, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Banco de Dados em Enfermagem: Brazilian Bibliography databases. The search was operationalized using the descriptors “growth and development”, “children” and “health”. The sample consisted of 22 documents. The content related to child growth and development was analyzed using the IRAMUTEQ software, using descending hierarchical classification and factorial correspondence analysis. The terms were analyzed according to children’s essential needs theoretical framework. Results: Five classes were determined, which had lexical and semantic relationships, represented by: Growth; Development; Nursing Consultation; Recording activities and Influential factors for child growth and development. Conclusion: Lexical vocabulary was identified, and the phenomenon “growth and development” was carefully and deeply unraveled, which can facilitate nurses’ clinical and critical reasoning at the time of the Nursing Consultation, mainly when listing Nursing Diagnoses and prescribing Nursing Interventions.