Siddiqui Maha, Farooqui Sumaira, Rizvi Jaza, Soomro Bashir Ahmed, Khan Muhammad Usman
College of Physical Therapy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, PAKISTAN.
Department of Neurology, Dr. Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, PAKISTAN.
Int J Exerc Sci. 2024 Aug 1;17(1):1193-1207. doi: 10.70252/LRAL2790. eCollection 2024.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Simulated Equestrian Therapy and Neuro-Motor Therapy in improving Motor Proficiency among Down syndrome children using a double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. This study was conducted at Dar-ul-Sukun Institute and Dr. Ziauddin Hospital from April to September 2023 by enrolling a total of 56 participants with Down syndrome (DS) after obtaining informed, voluntary assent from the guardians of the participants. Each participant was allocated randomly to the treatment group ( = 28) that received Simulated Equestrian Therapy (SET) and the control group ( = 28) that received Neuro-motor Therapy (NMT) using the envelop method of simple random sampling. The participants and their guardians were blind to the allocations. Participants' blood pressure and heart rate were recorded before and after each session to ensure safety. Each participant was assessed at baseline and after 6 and 12 week of intervention using Bruinink's test of motor proficiency (BOT-2). The data was analyzed using Medcalc software. The results reveal significant findings for improving motor proficiency after 12 week of intervention of SET and NMT. No protocol was found to be superior to another in improvement of the tested parameters. Hence, our study concludes that SET and NMT effectively improve motor proficiency among DS children. However, studies with a follow-up period should be conducted to further evaluate these therapies' long-term benefits.
本研究的目的是通过双盲随机对照试验，调查模拟马术疗法和神经运动疗法在提高唐氏综合征儿童运动能力方面的有效性。本研究于2023年4月至9月在Dar-ul-Sukun研究所和齐亚丁医院进行，在获得参与者监护人的知情、自愿同意后，共招募了56名唐氏综合征（DS）患者。使用简单随机抽样的信封法，将每位参与者随机分配到接受模拟马术疗法（SET）的治疗组（n = 28）和接受神经运动疗法（NMT）的对照组（n = 28）。参与者及其监护人对分配情况不知情。在每次治疗前后记录参与者的血压和心率以确保安全。使用布吕宁克运动能力测试（BOT-2）在基线以及干预6周和12周后对每位参与者进行评估。使用Medcalc软件对数据进行分析。结果显示，SET和NMT干预12周后在提高运动能力方面有显著发现。在改善测试参数方面，未发现一种方案优于另一种方案。因此，我们的研究得出结论，SET和NMT可有效提高DS儿童的运动能力。然而，应进行有随访期的研究，以进一步评估这些疗法的长期益处。
