The Benefits of Combining Bobath and Vojta Therapies in Infants with Motor Development Impairment-A Pilot Study

• Published in: Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) Vol. 59; no. 10; p. 1883
• Main Authors: Parau, Daniela, Todoran, Anamaria Butila, Barcutean, Laura, Avram, Calin, Balasa, Rodica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23-10-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Babies; Bobath; Caregivers; Child Development; Convulsions & seizures; Epilepsy; Humans; Hypoglycemia; Hypoxia; Infant; infants; Infections; Informed consent; Intervention; kinesiotherapy; Metabolism; Motor ability; motor recovery; Movement; Movement Disorders - rehabilitation; Orthopedics; Pilot Projects; Prospective Studies; Risk factors; Trauma; Vojta; Romania; Vojta; Bobath; infants; kinesiotherapy; motor recovery
• ISSN: 1648-9144; 1010-660X; 1648-9144
• DOI: 10.3390/medicina59101883

: In infants presenting with motor development impairment, early kinesiotherapeutic interventions aim to normalise the pattern of movements and improve recovery. By applying Bobath and Vojta methods, we aimed to identify a combined approach regarding motor deficit in infants with neurological disabilities.
: We designed a prospective interventional study on 108 infants with motor developmental delay and applied Bobath, Vojta, or combined Bobath and Vojta therapy in three equal groups.
: In the combined Bobath and Vojta group, complete motor recovery was achieved for 50% of the participants, with full recovery after six months, whereas in Bobath- or Vojta-only therapy groups, the total recovery for all participants was achieved at seven months. Regarding infants with muscular hypertonia, Bobath therapy initiation demonstrated complete recovery in 5 months in more than 50% of the cases, while for Vojta this was achieved in only 33.57% of the cases.
: The comparative evaluation conducted by analysing the data regarding the application of the Bobath and Vojta methods showed that combining these two therapies results in a shorter motor deficit recovery time than if a single therapy is applied. These findings have important implications for the selection of rehabilitation therapies in infants with neurological motor development issues.