The Effectiveness of Equine Therapy Intervention on Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life, Mood, Balance and Gait in Individuals with Parkinson's Disease.

Research overview

The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of equine therapy (ET) to detect changes in the activities of daily living, quality of life, mood, balance, and gait in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).Material and methodsIn the study, 17 participants with PD were recruited to participate in 10 sessions of ET. The inclusion criteria of the study were: second and third stages of the Hoehn and Yahr scale, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) greater than or equal to 24 points, and age up to 85 years. The outcome measures administered at the beginning and the end of treatment relied on measurements from the Rivermead ADL scale, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), and Tinetti balance assessment. Data from the stabilometric platform were also collected to objectify the value obtained by the Tinetti balance assessment. The ET program included 10 biweekly 45 min sessions.ResultsThe results obtained included statistically significant increases in measurements from the Rivermead ADL, PDQ-39, UPDRS, SDS, and Tinetti balance assessment scales. The stabilometric platform did not report significant changes in data.ConclusionET that was used as a supportive therapy for traditional treatments resulted in statistically significant improvements in the occupational performance, mood, quality of life, gait, and balance of the participants. Data from the stabilometric platform did not show significant changes.

Related topics