EquiKids EsE -Equitherapy impacts for Kids.A multicenter and controlled study on the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy for children and adolescents diagnosed with emotional-social development needs

Not Applicable

Conditions: need for support in emotional-social development

Registration Number: DRKS00034283

Lead Sponsor: Forschungsinstitut für Inklusion durch Bewegung und Sport - An-Institut der Deutschen Sporthochschule Köln

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Pending

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 300

Inclusion Criteria

Submission of a written declaration of consent from the children themselves and their legal guardians. In addition, agreement and indication for equine assisted learning in the group by the school and the doctor:
Diagnosis of special educational needs for emotional and social development (EsE), including:
o Impairments in emotional and social development, experience and self-control
o Impairments in emotional experience and social behavior
o Impaired person-environment relationship
o Lack of motivation to learn, lack of perspective/significant learning and performance problems
o Anxiety disorders
o Depressive and aggressive-dissocial disorders
o Hyperkinetic disorders: Diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity (ADD, ADHD)
o Obesity
o Autism
o Disorders of social behavior
o Partial performance disorders and resulting secondary problems (mental, motor)
o Functional disorders of the musculoskeletal system
o Cognitive impairments and impairments in perception, memory and attention

Exclusion Criteria

o Equine assisted therapy within the last 12 months
o Parallel participation in other intervention studies
o Body weight over 90 kg
o Planned start of treatment with antispastic drugs or with drugs that may have an influence on the test parameters (examples: Sativex®; neuraxial administration of baclofen; 4-aminopyridine)
o Seizure disorder not controlled by medication
o No or insufficient ability to spread the legs so that the child can sit on the horse
o Known severe osteoporosis; known severe osteoarthritis in the hip
o Known severe scoliosis that could be aggravated by equine assisted therapy
o Severe blood coagulation disorders where there is a risk of hematomas due to the therapy
o Insufficiently stable concomitant diseases in the field of internal medicine, gynecology and/or surgery
o Allergy to horse hair
o Damage to the brain, spinal cord, musculature or skeleton
o Diagnosis of cancer
o Malfunction of organs

Study & Design

Study Type: interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Participation-relevant parameters: The primary endpoint of the study is the change in selected parameters of social participation. An ICF-based EQUITEDO assessment to be completed by the therapists will be used as an external assessment to document the progress and results of equine assisted learning in a group setting and to assess the activity- and participation-related parameters of the effectiveness of the therapy. The focus is on motor, mental and psychosocial functioning through equine assisted learning in a group setting (changes compared to the baseline value) and in comparison to the control group (changes compared to the control group).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The secondary endpoint is the children's and adolescents' psychological difficulties and strengths. These are recorded using the internationally widely used questionnaire on strengths and difficulties (SDQ-Deu), which is completed by the therapists and teachers. The control and intervention groups are also compared here.