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Abstract
Background: Persons with stroke commonly have serious sequelae requiring long-term medical treatment. They often experience distress, and thus improving quality of life (QOL) has been considered a therapeutic objective in addition to prolonging the patient’s life. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of horseback riding therapy (HBRT) on the QOL of individuals with hemiparesis after stroke. Methods: In this single-blind, randomized, controlled trial, 24 poststroke patients were assigned to the experimental (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. The control group participated in a conventional physiotherapy program, whereas the experimental group participated in physiotherapy plus HBRT sessions for 16 weeks. The patients were evaluated by means of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form health survey (SF-36). Data analysis was applied through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics, with a 5% level of significance. Results: Significant improvement was observed in the total score of the SF-36 in the experimental group when compared with the control group. The combination of conventional physiotherapy and HBRT was associated with improvements in functional capacity (P = .02), physical aspects (P = .001), and mental health (P = .04) of the stroke patients. Conclusions: Supplementation of conventional physiotherapy with HBRT, applied in different contexts, may yield positive QOL outcomes for people with stroke. We recommend that further studies be carried out to clarify the benefits of HBRT applied singly.