Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of hippotherapy (therapy with horses) on posture and body function among children with cerebral palsy. A case–control study included forty-five children aged 6–12 years, classified as Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I or II, with spastic diplegia or hemiplegia. The participants were randomly divided into three groups: study I (n = 15), study II (n = 15) and control (n = 15). The children from the study groups attended 30min hippotherapy sessions for 12 consecutive weeks, twice (study group I) or once (study group II) a week. The Sitting Assessment Scale (SAS) was used. A comparison of SAS showed an improvement in almost all the assessed categories among the children who participated in hippotherapy. In study group I, statistically significant differences were noted in the assessment of head position control, arm function (in both cases, p = 0.012) and trunk control (p = 0.005) and in study group II in the assessment of trunk control (p = 0.028). Hippotherapy has a positive influence on the body posture and function of individual body parts in a sitting position among children with cerebral palsy.
Highlights
Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement, muscle tone and posture caused by an incorrect transmission of signals between the central nervous system and the muscles
Numerous studies confirm the beneficial influence of hippotherapy on the postural control, balance, gross motor functions and functional performance among children with cerebral palsy [6,7,8,9]
There is a need to conduct studies to better understand and evaluate the beneficial effects of hippotherapy on various disorders occurring in many diseases, that is why the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of hippotherapy on a child’s posture and functions of individual body parts according to the type of cerebral palsy, level of Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS)
Summary
Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement, muscle tone and posture caused by an incorrect transmission of signals between the central nervous system and the muscles This imbalance leads to increased activity in the muscles, impacting posture and walking patterns; this in turn results in limitation of daily activities and independence [1,2,3,4,5]. For this reason, the therapeutic process involves a number of methods and procedures that improve the motor function of those children. A detailed review of previous studies on the effects of hippotherapy on children with cerebral palsy is presented in the Supplementary Table S1
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