Kwon Sara, Sung In Young, Ko Eun Jae, Kim Han Seon
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea.
Ann Rehabil Med. 2019 Jun;43(3):279-288. doi: 10.5535/arm.2019.43.3.279. Epub 2019 Jun 28.
To investigate if therapeutic horseback riding (THR) can improve language and cognitive function in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID).
We conducted a prospective case-control study on children diagnosed with ASD or ID. Eighteen and 11 children were enrolled for THR and control groups, respectively. For 8 weeks, those in the THR group underwent conventional therapy plus 30 minutes of THR per week while controls only received conventional therapy. Participants' language (using Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test [REVT] and Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale [PRES]) and cognitive abilities (using Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children [K-ABC] and the cognitive domain of Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II [BSID-II]) were assessed at baseline and at 8 weeks after treatment.
There was no baseline difference between the two groups. In the THR group, there were statistically significant improvements in most domains after THR including receptive and expressive language and cognition compared to those before THR. In the control group, however, only receptive vocabulary ability assessed by REVT and cognitive function assessed by BSID-II showed improvements after conventional therapy. However, there were no statistically significant differences in language or cognitive abilities between the two groups at 8 weeks after treatment.
These results suggest that THR might improve language and cognitive abilities. Although the mechanisms and pathways involved in such improvements are currently unclear based on our findings, THR might have potential to optimize language and cognitive abilities of children with ASD and ID.
探讨治疗性骑马（THR）能否改善自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）或智力障碍（ID）儿童的语言和认知功能。
我们对诊断为ASD或ID的儿童进行了一项前瞻性病例对照研究。THR组和对照组分别纳入了18名和11名儿童。在8周的时间里，THR组的儿童接受常规治疗加每周30分钟的治疗性骑马，而对照组仅接受常规治疗。在基线和治疗8周后，使用接受与表达词汇测试（REVT）和学前接受-表达语言量表（PRES）评估参与者的语言能力，使用儿童考夫曼评估量表（K-ABC）和贝利婴儿发展量表第二版（BSID-II）的认知领域评估认知能力。
两组在基线时无差异。在THR组中，与治疗前相比，治疗性骑马后大多数领域包括接受性和表达性语言及认知能力有统计学意义的改善。然而，在对照组中，常规治疗后仅REVT评估的接受性词汇能力和BSID-II评估的认知功能有所改善。然而，治疗8周后两组在语言或认知能力方面无统计学意义的差异。
这些结果表明治疗性骑马可能改善语言和认知能力。尽管根据我们的研究结果，目前尚不清楚这种改善所涉及的机制和途径，但治疗性骑马可能有潜力优化ASD和ID儿童的语言和认知能力。
