FLORAIS DE BACH NO TRANSTORNO DE DÉFICIT DE ATENÇÃO E HIPERATIVIDADE (TDAH): REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity symptoms, incompatible with developmental level, and which may negatively affect the school performance of children. Its treatment involves the use of methylphenidate, which has important long-term adverse effects. Use of complementary therapies for the treatment of disorders, such as ADHD, is increasingly sought, and among these therapies stands out the so-called floral therapy, which is performed through the use of Bach flower essences, natural and highly diluted liquid extracts of flowers, plants and trees. The aim of this study was to review and analyze the results of primary studies on the effect of flower therapy on AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, a search strategy was developed in the following databases: National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Lilacs, ScienceDirect (Elseiver), Scielo, Cochrane Library, PsycARTICLES, theses and dissertations database of the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). Manual searches were with the specific keywords were also conducted. The assessed outcomes were the evaluation of improvement and resolution of symptoms. Controlled clinical trials that used intervention with flower therapy in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, published between 2001 and 2016, in English, Spanish or Portuguese were included in this review. The methodological quality of the research was analyzed through the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. A total of 947 articles were found and after the eligibility evaluation, four studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Among them, three reported improvement of ADHD symptoms with flower therapy and one did not identify statistically significant difference between active treatment and placebo use. The analysis of the methodological quality of the researches showed that only the study that did not find evidence of the effectiveness of flower therapy in ADHD presented good quality design, with a high degree of scientific evidence according to PEDro. Therefore, the findings of the studies identified in this review are not sufficient to determine the effect of flower therapy on ADHD. Key words: Flower essences. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Treatment.