Physical therapy treatments incorporating equine movement are recognized as an effective tool to treat functional mobility and balance in children with cerebral palsy (CP). To date, only a few studies examined kinematic outputs of the horses and children when mounted. In this pilot study, to better understand the effectiveness of this type of treatment, we examined the interaction between the horses and children with CP during physical therapy sessions where equine movement was utilized. Four children with CP participated in eight physical therapy sessions incorporating hippotherapy as a treatment intervention. Functional mobility was assessed using the Timed Up Go or the 10 m Walk Test. Inertial measurement unit sensors, attached to children and horses, recorded movements and tracked acceleration, angular velocity, and body orientation. Correlation between vertical accelerations of children and horses were analyzed. In addition, peak frequencies of vertical accelerations of children and horses were compared. Functional tests modestly improved over time. The children’s movements, (quantified in frequency and temporal domains) increasingly synchronized to the vertical movement of the horse’s walk, demonstrated by reduced frequency errors and increased correlation. The findings suggest that as the sessions progressed, the participants appeared to become more familiar with the horse’s movement. Since the horse’s gait at a walk mimics the human gait this type of treatment may provide individuals with CP, who have abnormal gait patterns, an opportunity for their neuromuscular system to experience a typical gait pattern. The horse’s movement at the walk are consistent, cyclical, rhythmical, reciprocal and multi-dimensional, all of which can facilitate motor learning. The increased synchronization between horse and the mounted participant suggests that physical therapy utilizing equine movement is a viable treatment tool to enhance functional mobility. This study may provide a useful baseline for future work. Trial registrationTexas A&M University Institutional Review Board. IRB2018-0064. Registered 8 March 2018. Link: https://rcb.tamu.edu/humans/irb and https://github.com/pilwonhur/HPOT

中文翻译：

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结合马运动的物理治疗：一项探索脑瘫儿童与马之间相互作用的试点研究

结合马运动的物理疗法被认为是治疗脑瘫 (CP) 儿童功能性运动和平衡的有效工具。迄今为止，只有少数研究检查了马匹和儿童骑乘时的运动输出。在这项试点研究中，为了更好地了解此类治疗的有效性，我们检查了马和 CP 儿童在使用马运动的物理治疗期间的相互作用。四名患有 CP 的儿童参加了八次物理治疗课程，将河马疗法作为治疗干预措施。使用 Timed Up Go 或 10 m 步行测试评估功能移动性。惯性测量单元传感器，附着在儿童和马匹上，记录运动并跟踪加速度、角速度和身体方向。分析了儿童和马的垂直加速度之间的相关性。此外，还比较了儿童和马匹垂直加速度的峰值频率。随着时间的推移，功能测试略有改善。儿童的运动（在频率和时间域中量化）与马步的垂直运动越来越同步，表现为频率误差减少和相关性增加。研究结果表明，随着课程的进行，参与者似乎对马的动作更加熟悉。由于马在散步时的步态模仿人类步态，这种类型的治疗可能为患有 CP 的个体提供异常步态模式，让他们的神经肌肉系统有机会体验典型的步态模式。马在行走时的运动是一致的、周期性的，有节奏的、互惠的和多维的，所有这些都可以促进运动学习。马和骑马参与者之间增加的同步表明利用马运动的物理治疗是一种可行的治疗工具，可增强功能活动能力。这项研究可能为未来的工作提供有用的基线。试验注册德州农工大学机构审查委员会。IRB2018-0064。2018 年 3 月 8 日注册。链接：https://rcb.tamu.edu/humans/irb 和 https://github.com/pilwonhur/HPOT 试验注册德州农工大学机构审查委员会。IRB2018-0064。2018 年 3 月 8 日注册。链接：https://rcb.tamu.edu/humans/irb 和 https://github.com/pilwonhur/HPOT 试验注册德州农工大学机构审查委员会。IRB2018-0064。2018 年 3 月 8 日注册。链接：https://rcb.tamu.edu/humans/irb 和 https://github.com/pilwonhur/HPOT