INFLUENCE OF HIPPOTHERAPY VERSUS DYNAMIC SADDLE SEAT TRAINING ON SITTING POSTURE IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Abstract

Most children with cerebral palsy (CP) have problems in controlling pelvic movements that cause them to sit with thoracic kyphosis and lead to limited upper limb functions. Therefore training methods to stimulate pelvic movements using hippotherapy (HP) and dynamic saddle seat (DS) have been introduced. These methods used characteristics of horse’s walking to facilitate pelvic motion of the rider which is similar to human walking. The objective of this study was to compare angles of hip flexion and pelvic tilt between two groups of children with CP, 5 in each group, who received six weeks of hippotherapy versus dynamic saddle seat training. The results of this study found no difference in pelvic tilt angle between two groups at baseline, 3^rd and 6^th week but significant difference in hip flexion angle was found at 6^th week post training (p= 0.009). Participants in HP group could flex hip during sitting on bench than DS group. In addition, significant differences in hip flexion and pelvic tilt angles between baseline and the 6^th week post training were found within HP and DS groups. Thus, it could be concluded that 6 weeks of hippotherapy or dynamic saddle seat training were adequate for improving hip flexion and pelvic tilt angles which affected sitting posture in children with CP.