Affiliations: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Andressa Silva, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Campus Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil. Tel.: +55 3125132347; E-mail: andressa@demello.net.br.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) present thermoregulatory impairments that prejudice thermal compensation and heat dissipation during exercise practice. Thus, cooling vests (CV) seems to be a promising strategy to attenuate it. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of CV in controlling the rise in body temperature and in enhancing exercise performance in individuals with SCI. METHODS: The searches were performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PEDro, and SciELO databases. We selected randomized controlled trials, quasi-randomized trials, or cross-over trials that evaluated the efficacy of CV before or during exercise practice in thermoregulatory responses and exercise performance of individuals with SCI. RESULTS: A total of 400 reports were identified through databases searches and another article was found through citation searching. Seven cross-over trials were included in this review after the screening processes. CONCLUSION: CV may not be effective in attenuating the rise in core temperature in persons with SCI, but it seems to be effective in controlling skin temperature and in improving thermal comfort/sensation. It is unclear whether the CV is more effective when applied before or during exercise practice. Individuals with tetraplegia may benefit more and the CV may be more effective in strenuous exercises.
Keywords: Quadriplegia, paraplegia, para-athletes, body temperature regulation
