Efeitos da equoterapia em crianças portadoras de Síndrome de Down: revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

Objective: To verify the effects of using the Hippotherapy method in children with Down Syndrome. Materials and methods: Integrative literature review, the search was conducted in the BVS, PUBMed and PEDro databases. The descriptors used were physiotherapy/ physiotherapy, hippotherapy/hippotherapy, horse-assisted therapy/equine assisted therapy, children/kids, motor development/motor development, down syndrome/down syndrome Results: Five randomized clinical articles published in English and Portuguese were selected, addressing hippotherapy as a treatment method for children with down syndrome. The effectiveness of the method for various gains, global muscle strength, psychomotricity, respiratory muscle activation and motor coordination was evidenced by most authors. Conclusion: Riding therapy is considered efficient in the treatment of children with down syndrome, in addition to influencing the improvement of balance, global muscle strength, psychomotricity, respiratory muscles and motor coordination.