Bobath Concept - Research

Research

Paci (2003) conducted an extensive critical appraisal of studies to determine the effectiveness of the Bobath concept for adults with hemiplegia following a stroke. Although selected trials showed no evidence proving the effectiveness of NDT as the optimal type of treatment, neither did they show evidence of non-efficacy because of methodological limitations. The Bobath therapy is nonstandardized and the decisions about specific treatment techniques are left to the individual therapist, who decides how to control muscle tone and how to achieve recruitment of arm activity in functional situations with various positions. Paci (2003) recommended that standardized guidelines for treatment be identified and described, and that further investigations are necessary to develop outcome measures concerning goals of the Bobath approach such as quality of motor performance.

"If they are to offer neurophysiologically sound approaches, clinicians must consider how the central nervous system creates the commands that drive and guide the hand to reach into space and grasp an object or the legs to take steps on flat or uneven ground." (Dobkin, 2000)