The effect of hippotherapy on ten children with cerebral palsy.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether hippotherapy has an effect on the general functional development of children with cerebral palsy. METHODS The study employed a repeated-measures design with two pre-tests and two post-tests conducted 10 weeks apart using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) and the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) as outcome measures. A convenience sample of 10 children with cerebral palsy participated whose ages were 2.3 to 6.8 years at baseline (mean +/- SD 4.1 +/- 1.7). Subjects received hippotherapy once weekly for 10 weeks between pre-test 2 and post-test 1. Test scores on the GMFM and PEDI were compared before and after hippotherapy. RESULTS One-way analysis of variance of group mean scores with repeated measures was significant (p < 0.05) for all PEDI subscales and all GMFM dimensions except lying/rolling. Post hoc analyses with the Tukey test for honest significant differences on the PEDI and GMFM total measures as well as GMFM crawling/kneeling and PEDI social skills subtests were statistically significant between pre-test 2 and post-test 1. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that hippotherapy has a positive effect on the functional motor performance of children with cerebral palsy. Hippotherapy appears to be a viable treatment strategy for therapists with experience and training in this form of treatment and a means of improving functional outcomes in children with cerebral palsy, although specific functional skills were not investigated.