Benefícios da equoterapia sobre as habilidades motoras de praticantes com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA): uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors. Hippotherapy has been shown to be effective in the motor and social development of people with

ASD, promoting improvements in coordination, balance, muscle tone and self- esteem. Thus, the objective of this systematic review was to analyze the effects

of hippotherapy on the motor aspects of people with ASD. The search was carried out in the following databases: Virtual Health Library (VHL), Pubmed, Scielo, Cochrane and LILACS. We used the PICO strategy to optimize the search for evidence and the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) The search terms were used: Autism spectrum disorder; Equine Therapy and Motor Skills, using the Boolean operators <AND= and <OR= to combine terms. As inclusion criteria, it was adopted. We used the inclusion of articles published between the years 2014 and 2024. A total of 576 articles were selected, and 7 of them met the eligibility criteria. The selected studies present a total number of participants of 385 subjects, with ages ranging from 05 to 31 years, of both sexes. The results show improved motor skills, such as balance, coordination, and posture. However, the lack of details about the methodology of the interventions, as well as the absence of data on the gender of the participants, limits the comparison between the studies. Despite the benefits observed, there are important gaps to be addressed, such as the lack of standardization of motor assessment and the lack of long-term follow-up. Future studies should better clarify the dose-response of the intervention, to ensure that people with ASD can benefit from hippotherapy.