European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 3, 29-36 (2010) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2010.007

THE INFLUENCE OF SHORT TERM, INTENSIVE HIPPOTHERAPY ON GAIT IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Markku Honkavaara1, Pauli Rintala2
1 Physical Education, Helsinki, Finland
2 Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of short term hippotherapy on functional gait changes in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were two boys (ages 12 and 13) with spastic diplegia and a girl (14 yrs) with athetoid CP. Single-subject (ABA) design was used to determine quantitative changes in functional gait parameters (velocity, stride length, and cadence) following three weeks of hippotherapy. The two boys demonstrated improvement in stride length and gait velocity without sustained improvement in cadence. There was increase in stride length and cadence, but most noticeable improvements in velocity for the girl. The results indicated that it is possible that short-term hippotherapy may improve functional gait in children with cerebral palsy.

Keywords: Hippotherapy, Cerebral palsy, Gait analysis, Single subject study

Prepublished online: March 5, 2011; Published: July 31, 2010  Show citation

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Honkavaara, M., & Rintala, P. (2010). THE INFLUENCE OF SHORT TERM, INTENSIVE HIPPOTHERAPY ON GAIT IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY. European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 3(2), 29-36. doi: 10.5507/euj.2010.007
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