As Terapias e Atividades Assistidas com Equinos como uma estratégia terapêutica para indivíduos com Paralisia Cerebral no interior da Amazônia

Abstract

Cerebral Palsy (CP) describes a group of permanent disorders of motor development and posture, causing limitation of activity, that are attributed to non-progressive disorders that have occurred in the maturing fetal or infant brain. Therefore, Equine Assisted Therapies and Activities emerge as a therapeutic method that uses the horse within an interdisciplinary approach seeking the biopsychosocial development of people with disabilities and/or special needs. The objective of this study is to understand the effects that TAAE have on individuals with Cerebral Palsy in the interior of the Amazon. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted with individuals, of both sexes, aged 6 to 17 years old diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy in an Interdisciplinary Center for Equine Therapy. Participants were investigated using the following instruments: Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), Mobility Assessment Scale for Hippotherapy (EAMEQ), Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory – Computerized Adaptive Testing (PEDI-CAT), Assessment form and Diary field. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the IBM SPSS Statistics software. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The sample, with a mean age of 12.40 ± 4.72, with the majority being male (80.0%), presented other associated diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (60.0%), microcephaly (40.0%) and West syndrome (20.0%). Participants have little independence in riding and driving the horse. However, with the hippotherapy sessions they developed trunk support, social and cognitive skills. It is concluded that this type of treatment influences several aspects of the psychomotor development of individuals with Cerebral Palsy.