BENEFITS OF FUNCTIONAL TRAINING FOR THE BALANCE AND PROPRIOCEPTION IN VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Visual impairment is a sensory disability that affects 6.5 million people in Brazil, reaching 285 million people worldwide. The subjects affected by visual impairment have more difficulty to maintain balance, as the view is one of the senses involved in this complex process. To improve such physical motor skills, and hence the life quality of these subjects, it is necessary to improve the other proprioception systems. One method for this is functional training. Objective: To analyze the effects of functional training on proprioception and balance of visually impaired persons. Methods: This case study evaluated three subjects with total blindness or low vision, during a functional training program that took 12 weeks with two sessions per week. Postural balance was evaluated on a force platform in bipedal condition and blindfolded. The evaluation of proprioception of the upper limbs was performed with a cinesiometer and the evaluation of the lower limbs was performed by fixing a fleximeter to the dominant knee joint of the participant, both blindfolded. The results were analyzed descriptively using multivariate analysis of time series. Results: All subjects showed improvement in postural balance. With respect to the proprioception of upper limbs, the subject 1 (S1) showed improvement, and regarding the proprioception of the lower limbs all subjects showed improvement. Conclusion: Thus, the results suggest that functional training had a positive effect on balance and on proprioception of these individuals.