Motor Skill Proficiency After Equine-assisted Activities and Brain-building Tasks

Texas Woman's University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Attention Deficit Hyper Activity; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Sensory Disorders; Intellectual Disability; Motor Delay; Motor Skills Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: GaitWay program; Behavioral: Equine-assisted activities

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04158960

17959

Details and patient eligibility

About

There is no current research to support the efficacy of a combination of equine-assisted activities (EAA) and brain building activities to influence motor skill competencies in youth with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND). The primary objective of this study was to quantify changes in motor skill proficiency before and after 8 weeks of EAA and brain-building activities in youth with ND. A secondary objective was to quantify changes in motor skill proficiency before and after 1 year of EAA and brain-building activities in youth with ND.

Full description

Twenty-five youth completed the same 32-week protocol that was separated into 4, 8-week blocks, in the following order: a) control, b) EAA-only, c) washout, and d) GaitWay block (EAA and brain building activities). Before and after each block, motor skills were assessed using the Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Version 2 (BOT-2). Seven youth continued with the GaitWay intervention for one additional year, and the BOT-2 Short Form was also administered following this intervention. A repeated-measures analysis-of-variance was performed to compare BOT-2 subtest and overall scores between interventions. A significance of .05 was used. Manual dexterity was higher at Post-Washout versus Pre-Control (p = .018) and Post-Control (p = .024), and at Post-GaitWay versus Pre-Control (p = .037). Upper-limb coordination was higher Post-GaitWay versus Post-Control (p = .050). When compared to Pre-Control, strength was higher at Post-EAA (p = .028) and at Post-GaitWay (p = .015). Overall scores were higher at Post-GaitWay when compared to Pre-Control (p = .003) and Post-Control (p = .009). Among the seven participants who participated in the 1-year follow-up GaitWay motor skills were maintained for one year following the Post-GaitWay testing session. A combination of EAA and brain building activities may be an effective therapeutic modality to improve and maintain motor skill proficiency in youth with ND.

Enrollment: 25 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 5 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age 5 to 18 years
• diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder (as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5))
• had the ability to follow verbal directions,
• Clearance to participate from a medical professional

Exclusion criteria

• a perfect score on the motor proficiency test at the first testing session
• presence of seizures within the past 6 months controlled by medication
• a known allergy to horses
• any surgical procedures performed within the 6 months
• regular horseback riding experience of any kind during the past year

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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25 participants in 4 patient groups

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Control period; no equine-assisted activities or brain-building activities occurred

Equine-assisted activities period

Active Comparator group

Description:

Period in which only equine-assisted activities were performed

Treatment:

Behavioral: Equine-assisted activities

Washout

No Intervention group

Description:

Washout period; no equine-assisted activities or brain-building activities occurred

GaitWay period

Experimental group

Description:

Period in which both equine-assisted activities and brain-building activities were performed

Treatment:

Behavioral: GaitWay program