Summary of the Systematic Review

Hippotherapy to improve hypertonia caused by an autonomic imbalance in children with spastic cerebral palsy

Yokoyama, Kaname, Tabata, Hotta, Shimizu, Kamiya, Kamekawa, Kato, Akiyama, Ohta, Masuda

The Kitasato Medical Journal (2013) 

Description

Hippotherapy (i.e., equine-assisted therapy, horseback riding) has been reported to have beneficial effects on children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a single session of hippotherapy on hypertonia caused by the autonomic imbalance in children with spastic CP. 

Profession 

Physical Therapist

Location 

Japan 

Intervention Terminology

HPOT

Study Design 

Case Series (pre/post)

Sample

22 children

Age/Population

5-12 years

Assessment/ Outcome measure tools

Holter ECG, surface electromyography, Modified Ashworth scale, pupillometer, manometer, pulse oximeter

Result Category 

Nervous system frequency, pupil size, muscle tone, muscle activity

Dosage/Description of Intervention

Backriding for 15 minutes