| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of research work: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Bobath method in improving the gross motor functions of children with cerebral palsy by analyzing publications fulfilling inclusion criteria. Tasks of work: 1. To select articles in 10-year period analyzing effectiveness of the Bobath method on gross motor functions in children with cerebral palsy. 2. To analyze what factors may influence the results of gross motor functions using the Bobath method in children with cerebral palsy based on the articles included in the systematic review. 3. To evaluate the significance of objective changes in gross motor functions in children with cerebral palsy by calculating the effect size of the Bobath method. 4. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Bobath method in improving the gross motor functions of children with cerebral palsy. Materials and methods: selection of articles was performed in the ,,PubMed“ and ,,Web of Science“ databases, according to the keywords and criteria identifying the study topic. The selection scheme was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Results: Seven of the eleven studies showed a statistically significant improvement (p<0.05) in gross motor function after application of the Bobath method, and no statistically significant improvement (p>0.05) was found in four studies. Three articles were rated as "high level of evidence", three as "medium level of evidence" and five as "low level of evidence". In one of the analyzed articles, the effect size is medium (d = 0.71), in three studies the effect size is small (d = 0.23; d = 0.29; d = 0.41), and in seven it is very small. A higher effect size was observed in studies using task-oriented exercises. Conclusions: 1. No meta-analyzes have been published in the PubMed and Web Of Science databases from 2011 to 2021 and only one systematic review of the effectiveness of the Bobath method on gross motor functions in children with cerebral palsy were found on available sources. Bobath intervention in research is more often chosen by the authors as a comparative (control group) intervention. Very few articles with a high level of evidence have been published to date on this topic. 2. The effectiveness of the Bobath method in children with cerebral palsy may depend more on the experience of the specialist than on the methods used. Better results are observed in studies where the main focus of Bobath intervention is task-oriented exercises. 3. Assessing the effect size of the Bobath method, the result of one study was interpreted as a “medium effect” and for three articles as a “small effect,” the effect size of the remaining studies is very small. 4. The systematic review analyzes only two articles with a high level of evidence and the effect size is relatively high in only one article, so there are currently too few articles with a high level of evidence to draw reasonable conclusions about the effectiveness of the Bobath method in improving gross motor functions in children with cerebral palsy. |
