Abstract
Abstract Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide. Individuals who suffered stroke present numerous functional limitations. Hippo-therapy (HPOT) is proposed as capable of promoting the recovery of postural balance in patients with neurological impairment. Objective: To analyze published articles, seeking the effects of HPOT on changes in postural balance, through the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), in individuals with stroke. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published on the electronic databases PubMed, VHL, SCIELO, Cochrane, SCOPUS, WoS, and Cinahl. Keywords: "hippotherapy", "horseback riding" and "stroke" linked by the OR and AND boolean operators. The research was restricted to clinical trials in an adult population with a history of stroke. Results: Four articles were included in this meta-analysis, which used HPOT as an intervention to improve postural balance. Three studies used a mechanical device (horseback riding), and the horse. The age ranged from 61 to 71 years, being more predominant the male sex. Sessions ranged from 6 to 12 weeks of 20 to 30 minutes per session. Quality analysis using the PEDro scale demonstrated scores ranging from 6 to 8 points in the selected studies. Overall, treatment with mechanical and conventional therapy resulted in an improvement in the total BBS score. As compared with conventional therapy just studies with horseback riding was superior to conventional therapy to improve postural balance in hemiparetic stroke patients. Conclusion: There are few studies of high quality; then, it is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of HPOT using a horse or a mechanic simulator in patients with stroke when compared with conventional therapy. Future studies could clarify if HPOT has potential benefits as a complementary therapeutic strategy to conventional physiotherapy to promote the improvement of postural balance after stroke.
Highlights
Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide
Treatment with mechanical and conventional therapy resulted in an improvement in the total Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score
As compared with conventional therapy just studies with horseback riding was superior to conventional therapy to improve postural balance in hemiparetic stroke patients
Summary
Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide. Individuals who suffered stroke present numerous functional limitations. Results: Four articles were included in this meta-analysis, which used HPOT as an intervention to improve postural balance. As compared with conventional therapy just studies with horseback riding was superior to conventional therapy to improve postural balance in hemiparetic stroke patients. Conclusion: There are few studies of high quality; it is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of HPOT using a horse or a mechanic simulator in patients with stroke when compared with conventional therapy. The neurological deficit from stroke results from the central nervous system injury of vascular origin due to a lack of tissue oxygenation.[1] It is the most prevalent cause of disability and death worldwide, and its incidence increased around 42% in the world population between the years 1990 and 2010. One of the reasons for this is the lack of disease monitoring and rehabilitation programs.[5]
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