Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

Analysis of the effects of a hydrotherapy procedure
on cerebral palsy children in a heated pool
Israel V (1) , Gluszewicz I (1) , Souza F (1) , Yamaguchi B (1)
(1) Universidad Federal de Paraná. Curitiba. Brazil
veral.israel@gmail.com
Introduction and Objectives
The goal was to assess the effects of an Aquatic Physical Therapy (Hydrotherapy)
intervention in a heated pool on children with Chronic Non-Progressive Childhood
Encephalopathy, known as Cerebral Palsy. This lesion occurs when the child
presents an accelerated pace of development and may affect the skill acquisition
process. As to motor disorders it may alter movement and motor skills which favor
body positioning and alignment, as well as change of position, body rectification,
coordination and balance reactions.
Materials and Methods
The method has met the requirements of the Research Ethics Committee in Brazil.
Photometry was applied as an assessment tool comparing the pre and post
intervention period with immersion in a heated pool, observing the acute effects of
a single aquatic intervention on four subjects with spastic quadriparesia. Immersion
took 50 minutes in a heated pool at 34ºC. Photometric postural assessment was
conducted on four children with spastic chronic non-progressive encephalopathy,
with anatomical demarcation of acromions , lower ribs and antero-superior iliac
spines, in a sitting position, in wheel chairs. The Corel Draw software was used to
verify the effects of hydrotherapy on body symmetry and alignment, comparing the
height between the two acromions, between the antero-superior iliac spines and
between the lower ribs bilaterally, in the horizontal plane. The statistical analysis of
data was done following the therapeutic intervention, with the software SPSS 15.0.
The interexaminer reliability test was done, with a result of 0.095, indicated as
excellent and with the t-student test.
Results
Body alignment and symmetry was obtained in all four subjects, being statistically
significant (p