Abstract
Background: the main objective of this study was to analyze the potential short-, medium- and long-term effects of a therapeutic physical exercise (TFE) programme on the functionality of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, measured with the Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Scale (ALSFRS-R) scale. Methods: a systematic review of the PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane, Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo), Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDline) databases was carried out. The information was filtered using the following Medical Subjects Heading (MeSH) terms: “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”, “Physical Therapy”, and “Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine”. The internal validity of the selected documents was evaluated using the PEDro scale. The study included clinical trials published in the last 5 years in which one of the interventions was therapeutic physical exercise in patients with ALS, using the ALSFRS-R as the main outcome variable and functional variables as secondary variables. Results: 10 clinical trials were analyzed, with an internal validity of 5–7 points. The TFE groups showed significant short-, medium- and long-term differences, obtaining a mean difference of 5.8 points compared to the 7.6 points obtained by the control groups, at six months, measured with ALSFRS-R. In addition, the participants showed significant improvements in functional abilities in the short, medium and long terms. Conclusions: Therapeutic physical exercise could contribute to slowing down the deterioration of the musculature of patients with ALS, thus facilitating their performance in activities of daily living, based on the significant differences shown by these individuals in the short, medium and long term both in subjective perception, measured with ALSFRS-R, and functional capacities.
Highlights
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS)and is characterized by a progressive involution of motor neurons in the cortex of the brain [1]
753 documents were found in the PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane, SciELO, PEDro, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases
421 patients were analyzed between groups of cases and control groups, whose results were obtained with different scales, mainly the ALSFRS-R, and fatigue severity scale (FSS), forced vital capacity (FVC) and 6 min walking test (6MWT) were established as secondary measures, based on their frequency of appearance and correlation with the study
Summary
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS)and is characterized by a progressive involution of motor neurons in the cortex of the brain (upper motor neurons) [1].
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