Physical Therapy Department, Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, WV, USA.
J Altern Complement Med. 2010 Sep;16(9):1003-6. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0043.
The purpose of this study was to determine the outcome of a short-term therapeutic horseback riding intervention on the gross motor function in a child with cerebral palsy.
This study employed a repeated-measures design with a pretest, a post-test, and a post post-test conducted 5 weeks apart using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) as an outcome measure. The three sets of test scores from the GMFM were compared upon completion of the intervention.
The subject participated in a 5-week therapeutic horseback riding program consisting of 1 hour of riding per week. Each riding session consisted of stretching, strengthening, and balance activities. The child's level of motor function was tested prior to the intervention, upon completion of the intervention, and 5 weeks postintervention. The GMFM, a criterion-referenced observational measure designed to measure change in the gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy, was chosen as the assessment tool.
Upon completion of the 5-week intervention, the child was observed to have improved scores on the GMFM in two of the five dimensions measured and scored for a total of eight items. The post post-test was completed 5 weeks after the final riding session and the results demonstrated successful maintenance of the improved scores in seven of eight items.
The result of this case study suggest that 5 weeks of therapeutic riding are sufficient to produce positive changes in the gross motor function of a child with cerebral palsy.
本研究旨在确定短期治疗性骑马干预对脑瘫儿童粗大运动功能的结果。
本研究采用重复测量设计，在 5 周的时间内进行预测试、后测试和后后测试，使用粗大运动功能测量（GMFM）作为结果测量。在干预完成后，比较 GMFM 的三组测试分数。
受试者参加了一个为期 5 周的治疗性骑马计划，每周 1 小时。每次骑马课程包括伸展、强化和平衡活动。在干预前、干预完成后和干预后 5 周，对儿童的运动功能水平进行了测试。GMFM 是一种基于标准的观察性测量工具，旨在测量脑瘫儿童粗大运动功能的变化，被选为评估工具。
在 5 周的干预完成后，在 GMFM 的五个测量维度中的两个维度上观察到儿童的得分有所提高，共涉及八项内容。在后后测试中，在最后一次骑马课程结束后 5 周完成，结果表明，八项内容中有七项成功地保持了提高的得分。
这项病例研究的结果表明，5 周的治疗性骑马足以使脑瘫儿童的粗大运动功能产生积极的变化。
