Aquatic physical therapy interventions in children with Down Syndrome to improve respiratory muscle strength: a narrative literature review

• Autor(a) principal: Neri, Fernanda Chéquer Maia
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Santos, Hanna Ribeiro, Spósito, Auriceia Ferreira Souto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/38188
• topic: Aquatic physiotherapy; Children; Down's syndrome; Hydrotherapy.; Fisioterapia acuática; Hidroterapia; Niños; Síndrome de Down.; Crianças; Fisioterapia aquática; Hidroterapia; Síndrome de Down.

Down Syndrome is a genetic alteration (trisomy of chromosome 21) that affects 1 in every 700 babies in Brazil. This syndrome is responsible for causing changes in the Central Nervous System, which affect, among others, the psychomotor development. Aquatic physiotherapy, through hydrotherapy, is one of the modalities of physiotherapy that can promote the therapeutic effects necessary for the neurological rehabilitation of these individuals, providing an improvement in quality of life due to the correction of antalgic postures and the acquisition of motor skills. In view of the benefits that hydrotherapy can provide to children with Down Syndrome, the present article aims at highlighting, by means of a Narrative Review of Literature, which are the advantages of hydrotherapy for the improvement of respiratory muscle strength in children with Down Syndrome, and which methods of aquatic physical therapy have been used. The search was carried out in three databases (Google Scholar, PubMed and Scielo), through a combination of the descriptors: hydrotherapy; aquatic physical therapy; Down Syndrome; respiratory muscle strength. Three (3) articles were selected. The results show that hydrotherapy, either through traditional or specific exercises, is effective in improving and developing muscle and respiratory strength in children with Down Syndrome.