eHealth in Chronic Diseases

This book provides a review of the management of chronic diseases (evaluation and treatment) through eHealth. Studies that examine how eHealth can help to prevent, evaluate, or treat chronic diseases and their outcomes are included

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Use of horse riding in chronic pain therapy

Introduction and purpose: Chronic pain is a struggle itself and also a symptom in many common conditions. Its complexity requires diverse treatment methods including some that might seem unconventional, for example, horse riding. This study gathers information about the use of equine assisted therapy in pain relief. Brief description of the state of knowledge: Hippotherapy is known as an important part of care for patients with cerebral palsy, attention deficit and autism. The rhythmical, multidimensional movements of the horse are transmitted to the rider’s pelvis and help in strengthening and stretching the muscles which result in better posture stabilization and balance. The positive effects of equine assisted therapy are not limited to only physical ones but positive social, cognitive and psychological effects can be observed as well. In order to lower the cost and time of the therapy, horse riding simulators were invented. So far, horse riding has been tested as a pain relief tool in entities like nonspecific low back pain, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Summary: Horse riding sessions had beneficial effects on pain levels among patients with nonspecific back pain and arthritis. There is a need to conduct further research in order to properly compare the use of real horses versus horse simulators. Hippotherapy was well perceived by different patient groups so maybe it has the potential to be an important part of pain management in various conditions

ANÁLISIS DEL DOLOR DE ESPALDA Y CUELLO EN SUJETOS QUE PRACTICAN EQUITACIÓN. ESTUDIO DESCRIPTIVO.

Introducción: El dolor lumbar y el dolor cervical son dos de las causas más comunes de discapacidad . Los ejercicios de estabilización son reconocidos como un posible tratamiento conservador, pero ante los beneficios que proporciona la hipoterapia, la equitación como deporte podría llegar a paliar estos problemas. Objetivos: Analizar si la equitación puede ser considerada beneficiosa en la prevención del dolor de espalda y cuello y evaluar cómo puede influir como deporte en ello. Material y métodos: Se realizó un cuestionario ad-hoc en español e inglés enviado mediante redes sociales a jinetes y amazonas, obteniendo un total de 47 cuestionarios para la realización del estudio. Resultados: El 74.5% de los participantes afirmó sufrir dolor de espalda o cuello en el último año, refiriendo más del 50% que tras practicar equitación su dolor disminuía y si interrumpía su entrenamiento el dolor no variaba. De los que no habían sufrido dolor de espalda y cuello en el último año (25.5%), a excepción de un caso, afirmaron que tras practicar equitación no aparecía dolor en ninguna región de la espalda, y si interrumpían su entrenamiento una minoría refería dolor en la zona lumbar. Conclusiones: La equitación puede ser beneficiosa para prevenir o disminuir el dolor de espalda o cuello, siempre y cuando se realice con buena técnica y con el entrenamiento necesario

Benefits of Equine-Assisted Therapies in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review

This systematic review aimed to provide an up-to-date analysis of the effects of equine-assisted therapies (EAT) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). .e Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to conduct this systematic review. PubMed and Web of Science databases were employed in the search, which ended in February 2022. .e risk of bias analysis was performed using the Evidence Project tool. After removing duplicates, thirty-nine studies were identified. However, only ten fulled the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. .erefore, a total of 195 PwMS, aged between 40.3 and 51.3, were included in this systematic review. EAT-based interventions had a mean length of 13.6 weeks with a session´s frequency ranging from ten to once a week. All sessions involved real horses and lasted a mean of 34.4 min. Among the included articles, four were randomized controlled trials (RCT), four did not perform randomization, and two employed a prepost design without a control group. RCTs showed positive effects on quality of life, fatigue, balance, spasticity, and gait speed. Furthermore, non-RCT showed improvements in balance, spasticity, and postural control (postural control was not assessed in RCTstudies). Importantly, significant effects were only observed when the comparison group was inactive or followed usual care. .erefore, EAT is a promising and effective therapy to improve quality of life, fatigue, balance, spasticity, and gait speed in PwMS. However, since comparison groups are heterogeneous, results could vary depending on the research design. Moreover, the inclusion of noncontrolled studies (in order to have a wide perspective of the state of art) could increase the risk of bias and make the results be taken with caution

Equine-assisted interventions for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review

Equine-assisted intervention therapy has a nearly 60-year history and has been shown to have a significant positive impact on various types of psychotherapy patients. Due to an increase in research on EAT, the number of existing methods of equine-assisted intervention therapy has gradually increased. Based on existing literature on the application of equine-assisted intervention therapy on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study examines the characteristics of several types of equine interventions and includes a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on equine-assisted interventions for veterans with PTSD published over the past 5 years, from 2018 to the present. Ten articles met the review criteria and served as the primary data for analysis. Several types of equine-assisted interventions were shown to have a beneficial psychological impact on veterans. However, some limitations were also found in the studies, such as that the majority of experiments were constrained by small sample sizes. Equine-assisted intervention therapy has been shown to be effective, but further research is merited, in order to focus on the specific details and theories involved in equine-assisted interventions, and on the welfare of the horses involved in the therapy

Design and Evaluation of a Novel Haptic Interface for Horse-Drawn Carriage Simulation

Animal welfare has become an increasingly important concern in the sports field. Learning horse-drawn carriage driving requires much time and effort for both the drivers and the horses because the associated gestures to avoid harming the horses are difficult to acquire. This raises the need to develop realistic simulation environments for future drivers. To this end, two haptic interface prototypes were designed, coupled with dedicated simulation software. The first was developed based on a SPIDAR haptic device and implemented simple behaviors of the carriage. A user study demonstrated interest in such a simulator, which led to the design of a second prototype, on a different architecture than the first prototype, for integrating more precise laws of horse behavior such as mood and allowing a more subtle control of forces. An evaluation with driving learners revealed that the simulator was capable of not only producing sensations close to reality but also improving the interaction between the trainer and the learner.This work was supported by the Ifce and SAHn under grant no. 2016-17-007

Postural strategies in skilled riders

For optimal horse-rider communication, high-levels of technical riding-skills are needed which requires both self-coordination of the rider and coordination with the body of the horse. The scientific documentation of the optimal postural position and the technical skills for a rider is limited. It is generally agreed that good riders should be highly symmetric and must continue to develop symmetry in themselves and their horses for optimal performance in riding. On the other hand, asymmetry in riders is recognized as a negative trait. To improve the technical skills needed to develop high-level performance, the kinematics of the core segments of the rider’s body must be understood and objectively characterized. The aim of this thesis was to target the intersegmental postural strategies of the foot, pelvis, trunk and head in skilled riders under three conditions: riding, walking and rocking a balance chair. 3D high-speed motion capture and inertial measurement unit techniques were used. The individual studies acquired and analyzed data from 7 to 20 high-skilled riders. Sagittal-plane riders kinematics were compared between passive and active riding situations; three different intersegmental strategies were found in active riding. Most of the riders applied increased pressure on the withers area during active riding and with increased collection of the horse. Furthermore, associations were found between intersegmental postural strategies while riding, sitting on a balance chair, and walking. During walking the foot with the higher degree of eversion/pronation was associated with greater contralateral pelvic drop in early stance. Skilled riders showed a higher degree of trunk movement compared to pelvic movement while rocking a balance chair. The results suggested high degrees of movement asymmetry in these skilled riders, when comparing the individual segmental strategies on left versus right directions both when seated but unmounted and during riding. It is well accepted in the equestrian community that skilled riders should communicate with the horse through pelvic movements. The ability to characterize the intersegmental postural strategies of the rider´s seat may enhance the possibilities to train body awareness and improve equestrian performance in the future. The long-term goal should be to produce healthier individuals and better performance and the results from this thesis may promote this development