Horse Therapy on Psychological Indices and Sensory-Movement Function in Children with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

In recent years, our awareness of excessive child mobility has increased dramatically, and attention has been paid to the level of activity, to attention defects and then to broader issues of social development. Estimates show a prevalence of 5 to 15 percent of primary school children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Today, various interventions are used to treat sensory and motor disorders in children. One of these is the new hipo therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effect of horse therapy on some psychological and sensory-motor performance indicators in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The research was a semi-experimental study based on its nature and objectives, and a pre-test-post-test design with the control group. The target sample in this study was 20 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (10 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group) who were selected using purposeful sampling. Tools were Conner's neuropsychological tests and Conners' questionnaire (teacher's version). Conner's neuropsychological test in Connor in 2001 was designed for the assessment of psychological nerve skills such as attention, memory, sensory-motor activity and visual-spatial processing in four spectra (not observed to severe) for children aged 5 to 12 years. The Conners Questionnaire (Teacher's Edition) has 38 questions and aims to diagnose children with attention deficit disorder and over-active by teachers. The method of rating is as follows: In no way zero points, low 1 point, average 2 points, high 3 points. The questionnaire has three components that measure the behavior of the child in the class, participation, and group collaboration, an attitude toward the authorities. The survey has 38 questions, and therefore, the total test score will range from 0 to 114. If the child's score is above 57, it indicates a defective disorder. The higher the score, the more the child's disorder will be, and vice versa. The construct validity of this tool was appropriately evaluated, and the reliability of this Cronbach alpha was reported to be 0.72. In this study, the experimental group was trained for horse riding for eight weeks and weekly three 90-minute sessions. The protocol of each session includes: familiarization with the horse (about 10 minutes) , horse's behavioral (about 10 minutes) , horse's coloring (about 10 minutes) , preparation and preparation of food (about 10 minutes) , horse feeding (about 10 minutes) Brush and horseradish (about 10 minutes) , horse riding (about 10 minutes) , familiarization with horse equipment (about 10 minutes) , and balance control on the horse at the time (10 minutes). During this period, the control group did not receive any relevant training. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and independent T-tests were used to analyze the data.

The findings showed that eight weeks of horse therapy intervention on psychological and sensory-motor performance including psychological symptoms, attention problems, sensory-motor function, memory and learning, executive functions, cognitive abilities, attention deficit disorder, child behavior in the class, participation and group collaboration and attitudes towards empowerment in children with ADHD have a significant effect and improve these indices (p<0.01).

A horse therapy period affects psychological parameters and sensory-motor performance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).