Pilates method application in Physical Therapy: a systematic review in the PEDro database

Introduction: Currently the Pilates method has been used in several diseases and is based on six basic principles. Scientific evidences are being published, in order to contextualize and prove the effectiveness of this method in various areas of Physical therapy. Objectives: To systematically review PEDro database about the application of the Pilates method in Physical therapy to check the areas in which the method is being more used and conduct an assessment of the methodological quality of the published studies. Methods: An advanced search was held on PEDro database, and the descriptor used for the search was "Pilates". Data extraction was performed considering: authors name, publication year, sample characteristics, intervention, follow-up, outcomes assessed, instruments used, results and score on the PEDro scale. Results: Twenty nine studies were pre-selected by the contents of the title, abstract and keywords, and analyzed. The included studies are from the areas: musculoskeletal, gerontology, cardiorespiratory, neurology and women's health, being highlighted the musculoskeletal area. Conclusion: The published studies have an intermediate methodological quality, with emphasis on the musculoskeletal area, where the method is more studied. (AU)