A Mixed Methods Investigation of Equine-assisted Occupational Therapy for Children With Autism
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Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often participate in equine-assisted interventions, where practitioners partner with horses to improve the health and well-being of the clients they serve. One of these interventions is equine-assisted occupational therapy (EAOT). The first aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of EAOT at improving the social, behavioral, and occupational functioning of children with ASD. Second, this study aims to conceptually develop the theory of change that guides how horses are integrated into occupational therapy for children with ASD. Eight children with ASD will participate in 10 weeks of EAOT. The quantitative strand will involve caregivers filling out measures of social functioning, self-regulation, and occupational performance on a weekly basis. Investigators hypothesize children will demonstrate improved performance on these measures during the intervention in comparison to baseline. The qualitative strand will consist of interviews with the providing occupational therapists aimed at understanding the theory behind why the intervention is effective. The results of this study will have implications for children with ASD, their families, and occupational therapists providing services to individuals with ASD.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03493347
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 8 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 5 Years to 14 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Jul 24, 2017 (Actual)
- Primary completion
- Dec 18, 2017 (Actual)
- Completion
- Dec 31, 2018 (Actual)
- Last update posted
- Apr 12, 2019
2017 – 2018
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearts and Horses Therapeutic Riding Center | Loveland | Colorado | 80537 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03493347, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Apr 12, 2019 · Synced Nov 13, 2026
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