Equine Therapy Programme on Stress, Autonomy and Balance in School-age Children With Intellectual Disabilities

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

EQUINE THERAPY: EQUINE THERAPY AND HORSE CARE

Study summary

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of an equine therapy programme on the emotional state and autonomy of school-aged individuals with intellectual disabilities. Methodology: pre-post quasi-experimental study of a single group. Study subjects: individuals with intellectual disabilities enrolled at the Cambrils special education school. Variables related to stress (salivary cortisol), balance, autonomy, vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oximetry) and clinical variables will be collected. Intervention: this will consist of 30 minutes of equine therapy and 30 minutes of activities related to horse care. All variables will be collected in an initial baseline measurement and some variables (stress, balance, autonomy and vital signs) will be monitored during and after the intervention.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• STRESS LEVEL-HEART RATE — Basal measurement before/after each session. On the day of the equine therapy sessions, subjects will wear the Embraceplus™ device for up to 4 hours before and after the session. Measurements every 15 days until the final of the Equine Therapy (3 months)
  Heart rate will be measured by Embraceplus™ device. It is a smartwatch. t will be measured in beats per minute.
• STRESS LEVEL-OXYGEN SATURATION — Basal measurement before/after each session. On the day of the equine therapy sessions, subjects will wear the Embraceplus™ device for up to 4 hours before and after the session. Measurements every 15 days until the final of the Equine Therapy (3 months)
  Oxygen saturation will be measured by Embraceplus™ device. It is a smartwatch. It will be measured as a percentage of spO2. This value indicates the proportion of haemoglobin in the blood that is bound to oxygen relative to the total haemoglobin available.
• STRESS LEVEL-RESPIRATORY RATE (RR) — Basal measurement before/after each session. On the day of the equine therapy sessions, subjects will wear the Embraceplus™ device for up to 4 hours before and after the session. Measurements every 15 days until the final of the Equine Therapy (3 months)
  Respiratory rate will be measured by Embraceplus™ device. It is a smartwatch. It will be measured as breaths per minute.
• STRESS LEVEL-BODY TEMPERATURE — Basal measurement before/after each session. On the day of the equine therapy sessions, subjects will wear the Embraceplus™ device for up to 4 hours before and after the session. Measurements every 15 days until the final of the Equine Therapy (3 months)
  Body temperature will be measured by Embraceplus™ device. It is a smartwatch. It will be measured in degrees Celsius.
• STRESS LEVEL-ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY (EDA) — Measurement before and after each session. On the day of the equine therapy sessions, subjects will wear the Embraceplus™ device prior to and up to 4 hours after the end of the session.
  Electrodermal Activity will be measured by Embraceplus™ device. It is a smartwatch. Electrodermal Activity is the variation in the electrical conductance of the skin caused by the activity of the sweat glands, regulated by the sympathetic autonomic nervous system, and is used to measure emotional arousal, stress, or physiological responses to stimuli, using electrodes that measure changes in skin resistance. It is useful in psychology, neuromarketing, and medicine to detect anxiety, depression, or autonomic neuropathy.
• AUTONOMY — Before the start of therapy (baseline assessment) and at the end of therapy (3 months)
  The level of autonomy or dependency will be assessed through adaptive behaviour using the Diagnostic Adaptive Behaviour Scale (DABS). The DABS is a tool that assesses a person's ability to function in daily life and determines whether there are significant deficits in this area, which is a fundamental criterion for the diagnosis of intellectual disability and other developmental disorders. Designed by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), the DABS is administered to individuals aged 4 to 21 and provides scores on the conceptual, social, and practical dimensions of adaptive behaviour.

Trial sites (1)

More Universidad Pontificia Comillas trials in Spain