Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis with Hippotherapy: an integrative literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease whose therapeutic approach is focused on delaying cumulative disabilities, especially in balance and gait. Objectives: To demonstrate the importance of hippotherapy as a complementary therapy in the treatment of multiple sclerosis through an integrative review of the existing literature on the subject. Results and Discussion: Thirteen studies were included for analysis, 4 literature reviews and 9 experimental studies. It was observed that most studies have low methodological quality. Hippotherapy proved to be able to improve or maintain, over time, the balance indices. It also had a positive impact on gait, dynamic balance and quality of life. All studies and reviews analyzed reaffirmed the improvements of hippotherapy in the perception of fatigue. Conclusion: Horse-assisted therapy proved to be an important complementary therapy in the rehabilitation project of patients with Multiple Sclerosis. In those parameters where there was heterogeneity of findings, further studies are needed, especially with better methodological quality.