Purpose: The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of hippotherapy
on gross motor function and functional performance in children with spastic cerebral
palsy (CP). Materials and Methods: We recruited 34 children (M:F=15:19,
age: 3‒12 years) with spastic CP who underwent hippotherapy for 45 minutes
twice a week for 8 weeks. Twenty-one children with spastic CP were recruited for
control group. The distribution of gross motor function classification system level
and mean age were not significantly different between the two groups. Outcome
measures, including the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-66, GMFM-88
and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory: Functional Skills Scale
(PEDI-FSS), were assessed before therapy and after the 8-weeks intervention as
outcome measures. Results: There were no significant differences between intervention
and control groups in mean baseline total scores of GMFM-66, GMFM-
88 or PEDI-FSS. After the 8-weeks intervention, mean GMFM-66 and GMFM-88
scores were significantly improved in both groups. However, the hippotherapy
group had significantly greater improvement in dimension E and GMFM-66 total
score than the control group. The total PEDI-FSS score and the sub-scores of its 3
domains were significantly improved in the hippotherapy group, but not in the
control group. Conclusion: The results of our study demonstrate the beneficial effects
of hippotherapy on gross motor function and functional performance in children
with CP compared to control group. The significant improvement in PEDIFSS
scores suggests that hippotherapy may be useful to maximize the functional
performance of children with CP.