| Objective： To investigate the effect of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) for the children with cerebral palsy (CP) on the gross motor function. Methods： Databases including Medline, Embase, Cochrance, SciVerse ScienceDirect, Web of science, Pubmed, Pedro, Wanfang Medicine, CNKI, CBM (sinomed) were searched till August of 2019. Two evaluators independently assessed the risk of bias of included studies by PEDro scale. The data on gross motor function measure (GMFM)-66, GMFM-88, B, D, and E dimensions were extracted in the experimental group and the control group before and after the intervention. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.3 software. Results： Seven studies were included in the systematic review, and 5 of them were included in the meta-analysis, with a total of 288 cases. The meta-analysis exhibited the GMFM-66 scale ［SMD=0.52, 95% CI (0.28-0.76), P<0.0001］, GMFM-88 scale ［SMD=0.56, 95% CI (0.25-0.86), P=0.0003］, B dimension ［SMD=0.31, 95% CI (0.02-0.61), P=0.04］, D dimension ［SMD=0.61, 95% CI (0.28-0.95, P=0.0004］, E dimension ［SMD=0.55, 95% CI (0.25-0.85), P=0.0004］. The results showed that the data in the EAT group were statistically different from those in the control group. EAT could significantly improve the gross motor function of CP children. Conclusion：Based on the results of the meta-analysis, EAT can significantly improve the gross motor function of CP children and can be used as a reference treatment method for physical therapy of CP children. |
