Purpose: Stroke is one of leading causes of neuromuscular disorders that affects the patients’ abilities during standing and walking. Various treatments have been used to restore and improve patients’ stability and reduce falling risks. This study aimed to assess the effect of Kinesio taping on dynamic balance and spasticity in subjects with stroke disorder.
Methods: This project was single blind randomized controlled trial. A total of 22 stroke patients (11 patients were diagnosed with right-sided and 11 patients with left-sided hemiplegia) were recruited in this study. Both groups received Kinesio taping intervention. Kinesio Tex Tape was directly applied to the skin of calf muscles and kept there for 1 hour. Time up and go (TUG) test was used to assess dynamic postural control and modified modified Ashworth Scale to evaluate the degree of spasticity of plantar flexor muscles. The subjects’ static stability was evaluated based on sways of centre of pressure (CoP) on a force plate. The statistical analysis was done by performing repeated measure of analysis of variance with Minitab software (v. 17).
Results: There was a statistically significant reduction of the spasticity and Time up and go test scores in the pre-taped, taped and retest conditions (P<0.05). There was a significant difference between two groups with regard to TUG test scores (P=0.013), but not spasticity scores (P=0.301). No differences were observed in CoP excursions between the test conditions for both left and right sides (P=0.415).
Conclusion: These results suggest that ankle taping is useful in immediate stabilization of body posture and reduction of spasticity. Also the results of this study showed that subjects with left-sided hemiplegia have relevant balance disorders and taping better improve dynamic postural control in these patients.