Table 6.
Mean values ± SEM of some physiological parameters the patients during the control and the anticipatory phases, the HP ground and HP riding phases (horse-patient interaction on the ground and on horseback, respectively) and the recovery phase. The sleeping phase refers to the time (expressed in minutes) of deep and light sleep on equine assisted therapy days.
| Physiological Parameters | Phases | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | Anticipatory | HP Ground | HP Riding | Recovery | Sleeping | |
| O | 97.36 a ± 0.45 | 94.39 a ± 1.23 | 94.86 a ±1.14 | 95.92 a ± 0.83 | 97.92 a ± 0.26 | - |
| T | 35.84 a ± 0.26 | 36.26 b ± 0.05 | 36.18 ab ± 0.06 | 36.20 ab ± 0.03 | 36.18 ab ± 0.07 | |
| LS | 457 a ± 47.7 | - | - | - | - | 496.7 a ± 23.5 |
| DS | 95.7 a ± 10.4 | - | - | - | - | 120.3 a ± 14.5 |
Parameters: O: oxygen saturation (%); T: temperature (°C); LS and DS: light and deep sleep (minutes). Different superscripts within each row indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) between the phases, for each parameter.