ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Purpose: to identify the state-of-the-art research on postural balance in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in both Brazilian and international literature. Methods: a bibliometric review, developed through bibliographical search in databases using the following descriptors: "postural balance" OR "vestibular diseases" OR "postural equilibrium" AND "autism". The eligibility criteria for sample selection were articles published in Brazilian and international journals, in either English or Portuguese. There was no restriction regarding the year of publication. The selection was based on reading the title, abstract, and lastly the full text of the articles potentially relevant for this review. Results: 62 articles were found based on the eligibility criteria. The number of publications related to the study's theme peaked in 2015 and 2016, the first publication being from 1974. There was a predominance of studies published in the USA (37%), in English, with a quantitative, cross-sectional approach. Most of the authors compared the performance in body balance tasks of children with ASD with that of children with typical development. Conclusion: it was observed that body balance and postural control in children with ASD are growing trends in scientific publications.
RESUMO Objetivo: identificar o estado da arte do equilíbrio postural em crianças com TEA baseado na literatura nacional e internacional. Métodos: trata-se de uma revisão bibliométrica, construída por meio de levantamento bibliográfico em bases de dados, utilizando os seguintes descritores: "postural balance" or "vestibular diseases" or "postural equilibrium" and "autism". Os critérios de elegibilidade para seleção da amostra foram: artigos publicados em periódicos nacionais e internacionais; em inglês e português; sem filtro de ano. Para a seleção dos artigos foram considerados a leitura pelo título, seguida do resumo e finalmente, a leitura dos artigos completos, potencialmente relevantes para a revisão. Resultados: foram encontrados 62 artigos com base nos critérios de elegibilidade. O pico de publicações referente ao estudo ocorreu nos anos de 2015 e 2016, e a primeira publicação encontrada foi no ano de 1974. Predominou os estudos publicados nos EUA (37%), em língua inglesa, com abordagem quantitativa, corte transversal e desenho seccional. A maioria dos autores compararam o desempenho das crianças com TEA e crianças de desenvolvimento típico em tarefas de equilíbrio corporal. Conclusão: foi observado que o equilíbrio corporal e o controle postural em crianças com TEA são temas em ascensão nas publicações científicas.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The elastic therapeutic taping has been considered a promising resource for disabled children. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence of the effects of elastic therapeutic taping on motor function in children with motor impairments. METHOD: Three independent evaluators conducted searches in electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, BIREME/BVS, Science Direct, SciELO, and PEDro). Clinical studies design, published until 2016, involving elastic therapeutic taping and children aged 0-12 years with motor impairments were included. The variables considered were the methodological aspects (study design, participants, outcome measurements, and experimental conditions); results presented in the studies, and also the methodological quality of studies. RESULTS: Final selection was composed by 12 manuscripts (five randomized controlled trials), published in the last 10 years. Among them, cerebral palsy (CP) was the most recurrent disorder (n = 7), followed by congenital muscular torticollis (n = 2) and brachial plexus palsy (n = 2). Positive results were associated with taping application: improvement in the upper limb function, gross motor skills, postural control, muscular balance, and performance in the dynamics functional and daily activities. LIMITATIONS: Lower quality of the studies, clinical and population heterogeneity existed across studies. CONCLUSIONS: The elastic therapeutic taping has been shown to be a promising adjunct resource to the conventional rehabilitation in children with motor impairments. However, high methodological studies about its efficacy in this population are already scarce. Implications for Rehabilitation Elastic therapeutic taping has been shown to be a promising adjunct resource to the conventional rehabilitation in disabled children. Clinical trials have indicated improvement in the postural control and functional activities with both, upper and lower limbs, and increase in the functional independency resulting from the taping use. Randomized control trials and well-established protocols are needed to increase the confidence in applying elastic therapeutic taping to specific clinical conditions.
Subject(s)
Athletic Tape , Brachial Plexus Neuropathies/rehabilitation , Cerebral Palsy/rehabilitation , Torticollis/congenital , Brachial Plexus Neuropathies/physiopathology , Cerebral Palsy/physiopathology , Humans , Lower Extremity/physiopathology , Motor Skills , Postural Balance , Torticollis/physiopathology , Torticollis/rehabilitation , Upper Extremity/physiopathologyABSTRACT
The control of head posture and movement play a significant role in the early development of motor skills. However, a detailed kinematic study charting this development is currently lacking. Hence, the authors performed a longitudinal study of 18 infants between birth and 4 months charting changes in head posture and movements when tracking a visual object. The results showed that beyond 2 months, the head was more often held at the body midline and this was accompanied by an increase in the number, extent, and speed of head movement. Further, it was found that head movements were organized into movement units. Movement units initially increased in number, but after 3 months decreased in number and increased in duration, especially after peak velocity. This more symmetrical profile velocity points to more controlled head movements after 3 months of age.
