Equine-assisted Occupational Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

March 15, 2016 updated by: University of Alberta

Effects of Hippotherapy on the Motivation and Social Interaction/Social Communication of Children With Autism

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have difficulty engaging in activities. This study examined the effects of equine-assisted occupational therapy for 7 children with ASD ages 4 to 8 years. A multiple baseline design was used. For each child, there were 9 to 11 baseline assessments, 9 to 12 intervention sessions, and 4 follow-up sessions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty engaging in activities. Based on the literature, the unique features of horses may be beneficial to children with ASD. There is limited research supporting the use of horses in occupational therapy interventions. This study examined the effects of equine-assisted occupational therapy for 7 children with ASD ages 4 to 8 years. A multiple baseline design was used. For each child, there were 9 to 11 baseline assessments (gross and fine motor play activities), 9 to 12 intervention sessions, and 4 follow-up sessions (gross and fine motor play activities). Intervention sessions were 40 to 60 minutes long and consisted of time spent on the horse and in horse related activities. Children were videorecorded in all conditions. Trained coders scored randomly selected segments of the video recording. Inter-rater reliability was good.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

8

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

3 years to 8 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder by a multidisciplinary team,
  • between ages 3 and 8,
  • understand basic English,
  • willing to ride a horse, no horse riding in the past 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • severe of repeated aggressive behaviour,
  • comorbidities such as deafness that would interfere with intervention.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Equine assisted occupational therapy
Intervention was one 40 to 60 minute session per week. Half of the session was spent riding a horse and half was spent doing horse related activities. Children had 9 to 12 sessions
Other: Equine assisted occupational therapy
Intervention was one 40 to 60 minute session per week. Half of the session was spent riding a horse and half was spent doing horse related activities. Children had 9 to 12 sessions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rater coding of engagement
Time Frame: One 5 minute segment per session for five months
Trained coders rated the proportion of time the child was engaged in the activities
One 5 minute segment per session for five months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rater coding of enjoyment
Time Frame: One 5 minute segment per session for five months
Trained coders rated the number of times the child expressed enjoyment.
One 5 minute segment per session for five months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 6, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

March 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 21, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00031008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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