Does Hippotherapy Have an Effect on Mobility, Gait, Balance and Perceived Health-related Quality of Life in Persons With Parkinson's Disease?
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 30
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Functional mobility.
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to investigate the effects of hippotherapy (horse assisted therapy) (intervention group) compared to usual care (control group) on mobility, gait, balance and perceived health-related quality of life in persons with Parkinson's disease. The main objectives of this study are:
- The primary objective is to investigate the effects of hippotherapy on mobility of pwPD, walking speed and the ability to perform daily movements.
- The secondary objective is to investigate the effects of hippotherapy on (a) balance, (b) self-perceived physical and mental health and (c) specific gait parameters.
- Furthermore this study, aims to gather critical information that will inform about the design and implementation of a larger, more definitive randomized controlled trial.
In addition to the three-week, multidisciplinary rehabilitation program the intervention group will receive hippotherapy (20 minutes) three times a week (7 sessions in total) and the control group will receive additional physiotherapy sessions (30 minutes) two times a week.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Confirmed diagnosis of Parkinson's diagnosis
- •Age > 18 Years;
- •Hoehn & Yahr stage ≤ 4;
- •Category 3 in the Functional Ambulation Categories
- •Climbing stairs is possible (with support).
Exclusion Criteria
- •Severe cognitive impairment, defined by a score below 26 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa)
- •Body weight > 90kg;
- •Horse hair allergy;
- •Other acute and subacute cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal or neurological disorders that constitute a contraindication to hippotherapy (i.e. a recent fracture);
- •Pregnancy.
Arms & Interventions
Hippotherapy
In addition to the three-week, multidisciplinary rehabilitation program the intervention group will receive hippotherapy three times a week (7 sessions in total). The hippotherapy sessions last 20 minutes each and aim at trunk rotation (in the transverse and frontal plane), rhythm and trunk stability. They will receive this in addition to the usual three-week rehabilitation program. This program includes 30 minutes of physical therapy daily plus two additional physiotherapy sessions of 30 minutes, 30 minutes of occupational therapy 3x/week, strength training 3x/week, 45 minutes of balance training 2x/week and, as required, other therapies such as nutritional advice, speech therapy and/or creative therapy to meet the individual needs of people with Parkinson's.
Intervention: Hippotherapy (Other)
Usual care
The comparison group will perform the three-week rehabilitation program, without hippotherapy. This program includes 30 minutes of physical therapy daily plus two additional physiotherapy sessions of 30 minutes, 30 minutes of occupational therapy 3x/week, strength training 3x/week, 45 minutes of balance training 2x/week and, as required, other therapies such as nutritional advice, speech therapy and/or creative therapy to meet the individual needs of people with Parkinson's.
Intervention: Physiotherapy (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Functional mobility.
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 weeks
Functional mobility will be measured with the expanded Timed Up and Go test. The eTUG is a modification of the traditional Timed Up and Go test, whereby the distance is increased from 6 to 10m. This has enabled a more accurate gait assessment in pwPD. Multiple time points are assessed: * The time the person takes to get from a sitting to standing position. * The time the person takes to walk the first two meters (gait initiation) * The time the person takes to walk the remaining (gait 1) * The time the person takes to turn (turning) * The time the person takes to (gait 2) * The time the person takes to slow down, turn and sit down again The more time someone takes to perform the test, the more the mobility is impaired.
Secondary Outcomes
- Balance(From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 weeks)
- Health related quality of life(From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 weeks)
- Walking capacity(From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 weeks)
Investigators
Jens Bansi
Dr Jens Bansi, PhD
Klinik Valens