Analysis of strength and electromyographic activity of lower limbs of individuals with down syndrome assisted in physiotherapy and hippotherapy.

Introduction: one of the characteristics of Down Syndrome (DS) is muscle hypotonia. Different therapeutic approaches have a positive influence, between them Physiotherapy applications with different therapeutic approaches such as Hippotherapy have a positive effect on the physical health and quality of live of individuals with DS.

Objective: to evaluate the effects of both treatments on the strength and electromyographic activity of the lower limbs of children and adolescents with DS.

Methods: fourteen individuals, aged between 10 and 18 years, participated in two groups: Physiotherapy group (n = 5) and Hippotherapy group (n = 9). Thirty interventions were performed for each type of therapy, once a week, lasting 30 min. Pre and post-interventions, the 30-Second Chair Stand Test (30s-CST) was used to assess the strength of the lower limbs and the surface electromyography equipment (EMG 800RF) to assess the lower limb myoelectric activity.

Results: there was a reduction in the post-intervention electromyographic values for both treatments (p˂0.001), with significantly less myoelectric activity in Hippotherapy compared to Physiotherapy for all evaluated muscles (p˂0.001) and a significant increase in muscle strength for the Hippotherapy, post-intervention group (p = 0.0007).

Conclusion: Physiotherapy and Hippotherapy are interventions that promote positive changes in the myoelectric activities of individuals with DS. However, only hippotherapy promoted an increase in strength of the lower limbs.