The Effect of Hippotherapy on Balance in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Browning, Paige

Publication

The Effect of Hippotherapy on Balance in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Browning, Paige

Date

2019

Additional date(s)

2019-05-19

Abstract

Hippotherapy is a rehabilitation treatment using the multidimensional movements of a horse as a therapeutic tool to facilitate active gross motor control. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a hippotherapy therapeutic intervention on improving balance in individuals with developmental disabilities. This was investigated using performance production measures of the BTrackS portable force plate. Voluntary participants (n = 10) with developmental disabilities who ranged in age from seven to thirty-seven years old participated in the study. Measurements were taken before and after a twelve-week hippotherapy intervention program. Balance was quantified by having the individuals stand on the BTrackS force plate for four consecutive 20-second trials. The medial/lateral, anterior/posterior, and ellipse area measurements were analyzed. Following 12-weeks of training, there was a significant increase in balance stability for all participants. Medial-lateral (cm) sway decreased from 0.7 + 0.7 to 0.5 + 1.4 (p < 0.05, d = 0.34) and anterior-posterior (cm) sway decreased from 0.8 + 0.5 to 0.5 + 0.4 (p < 0.05, d = 0.62). The results from this study suggest that hippotherapy has a positive influence on balance in individuals with developmental disabilities and can be a useful treatment tool for this population.