An Experimental Pilot Study of Global Postural Reeducation Concerning the Cognitive Approach of Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Background: Several recent studies have examined the positive effects of physical exercise and equilibrium on individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. Objectives: In this sense, this study based on an experimental design, tested whether global postural reeducation (GPR) can affect equilibrium and cognition, life quality, and psychological symptoms of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods: One hundred thirty-five participants with mild and moderate AD diagnosis were assigned to 2 groups: experimental group (EG, n = 90) and control group (CG, n = 45). The GPR therapy was implemented in the EG for 6 months, while both groups underwent neuropsychological assessments prior and after the 6-month period. Results: According to the repeated measures of analysis of variance, significant differences between groups were found at the 6-month follow-up period, in benefit of the EG such as Mini-Mental State Examination ( P = .000), Geriatric Depression Scale ( P = .000), Neuropsychiatric Inventory ( P = .000), quality of life in AD/patient ( P = .000), quality of life in AD/caregivers ( P = .000), Barthel index ( P = .000), and Tinetti Scale ( P = .000), while the CG showed a low performance in the neuropsychological tests. Conclusions: We suggest that GPR is a therapeutic option, which can improve the psychological, physical, and cognitive aspects of patients with AD.

Effectiveness of Global Postural Re-Education in Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…These results agree with previous studies, which have shown the effectiveness of GPR treatment [11]. In other pathologies, GPR acts on muscle flexibility [9,[12][13][14][15][16]28,29], postural organization [3,29,30], functionality [6,20,23], quality of life [6,15,21,30,31], reducing pain [3,15,16,19], fatigue [23] and others [20,22,[32][33][34].…”

“…The LBP therapeutic approach for physical therapists should be a priority, since, according to the World Health Organization [10], it is not only a musculoskeletal health problem, but also involves other dimensions of the individual. In addition, is one of the most common health problems worldwide [3,4]. As described by Popescu and Lee [11], its prevalence is very high, reaching 84% in adults.…”

“…The program implies an active involvement of the patient [2]. This physical therapy modality has been used to improve the health status of patients with various pathologies [2][3][4][5][6], although the available studies do not provide sufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions.…”

El control postural y la conciencia corporal en los trastornos mentales. Revisión de tema

“…Por este tipo de aspectos motores, el control de los mismos se vuelve aún más complejo, como se evidencia en usuarios con demencia, como en el estudio de Toots et al (2016): el 83 % de su población objeto fueron personas con enfermedad de Alzheimer, con dificultad concomitante en la transferencia de habilidades motoras por su alteración cognitiva. Se ha reportado también que, estas alteraciones generan más pérdida de la especificidad de la tarea y la funcionalidad, debido a la pobre capacidad para utilizar las habilidades adquiridas, en contextos nuevos (Todri et al, 2020), corroborando así la interacción balanceada que debe existir de estos procesos, para la consecución de un control postural óptimo y un movimiento que sea posible transferir a las situaciones cotidianas y las AVD.…”

Effectiveness of Global Postural Reeducation in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of GPR treatment to be superior to physical therapy [12], and, according to the literature, the effects of GPR are quite broad in other pathologies, acting on muscle flexibility [9,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19], postural organisation [19][20][21][22], functionality [6,23,24], cognition, quality of life [6,16,21,25] and reducing pain [16][17][18]26], fatigue [24], and others [21,[27][28][29]. The benefits of GPR in AS, however, have been analysed either in conjunction with other types of treatment or were not studied in depth [4,30,31].…”