RESULTS
Patient characteristics are summarized in Table 1. Of the 34 children in the intervention group, 32 had bilateral spastic CP and 2 had unilateral CP. There was no significant difference in mean age, distribution, or GMFCS level between groups. Young children aged 3 to 7 years comprised 22 individuals in the hippotherapy group and 10 in the control group. The proportion of younger or older children was not significantly different between groups.
At the initial baseline evaluation, there were no significant differences in total GMFM-66 or GMFM-88 score be- tween hippotherapy and control groups. However, GMFM- 88 scores in the B and C dimensions were significantly higher in the hippotherapy group than the control group. After the 8-week intervention, both GMFM-66 and GMFM-88 scores were significantly improved in both groups. The improvements in GMFM-66 scores were significantly greater in the hippotherapy group than in the control group. GMFM- 88 scores were significantly improved in all dimensions in the hippotherapy group, but only in dimension B in the control group. Changes in dimension E of the GMFM-88 over the course of the study were significantly greater in the hippotherapy group than in the control group (Table 2).
PEDI-FSS evaluations were missing in 6 children in the hippotherapy group because their parents could not be interviewed for various reasons. Thus, PEDI-FSS was assessed in 28 children in the hippotherapy group and 21 in the control group. At the initial baseline evaluation, there were no significant differences in total score or subscores of any domain between groups. After the 8-week intervention, significant improvements in the total score and the subscores of all 3 domains were achieved in the hippotherapy group, but not in the control group. In addition, changes in the total score and subscores of all 3 domains after the 8-week study period were significantly greater in the hippotherapy group than the control group (Table 3).