Introduction: Cerebral palsy is a collective term for non-progressive movement disorders that cause permanent physical disability. Damage to a child's brain affects the motor system, so the child has abnormal muscle tone, coordination and balance disorders, reduced muscle strength, or abnormal movement patterns, or a combination of these characteristics. Physiotherapy can use a variety of approaches and methods to improve the performance of activities of daily living, increase muscle strength, reduce spasticity and prevent the development of musculoskeletal deformities. The choice of method is determined by the individual needs of the person with CP. As there are several different forms and degrees of CP, we need to assess the abilities and analyse the motor skills of the individual and classify the person according to the GMFCS five-level system. One of the possible methods is water therapy. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine the effects of aquatic therapy on gross motor function in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy through a literature review. Methods: Scientific research articles were searched in the CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed and ScienceDirect databases. Randomized controlled trials published in English were included in the literature review. The following English keywords and phrases were used in combination or alone: cerebral palsy, aquatic therapy, aquatic exercise, hydrotherapy, phyisotherapy, rehabilitation, gross motor function. Results: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, five studies published between 2009 and 2020 with PEDro scores between 4 and 6 were included in the literature review.The duration of the aquatic exercise programme ranged from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 10 weeks, with most of the studies having twice-weekly sessions. A control group was also present in all studies. Water therapy has positive effects on children and adolescents with CP, with statistically significant results within or between the control and experimental groups in the included studies. Improvements in gross motor function occurred in all dimensions of the GMFM and/or individually in dimension D (standing) and/or E (walking, running, jumping). Discussion and conclusion: The findings of the literature review suggest that aquatic therapy is effective for gross motor function in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. For more reliable conclusions, it would be necessary to carry out more research, require larger number of subjects, use more uniform programs in water therapy and long-term follow-up of the effects of water exercise.
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