HIPPOTHERAPY IN POSTURAL BALANCE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive disease induced by autoimmune inflammatory responses that attack myelin of the nerve tissue, with changes in postural balance being common manifestations in MS. Objective: Verify if the hippotherapy, inserted as a complementary activity, influences the postural balance of MS patients. Method: A total of six cases were evaluated. The performance of postural balance was assessed by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) before and after 30 sessions of hippotherapy, performed twice a week, over a period of four months. Results: After the intervention, there was an increase in scores on BBS in four individuals and two of them maintained their scores. Conclusions: The stimulation of hippotherapy as a complementary activity proved to be able to improve the results of performance in functional tasks that require static and dynamic balance, assessed by BBS.