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Published on: July 26, 2021
Enhancing Plantar Sensation via Bilateral Plantar Kinesio Taping Improves Gait Ability in Patients With Subacute
1Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate School of Public Health, Gachon University.
Objective:
To identify the effects of bilateral plantar kinesio taping (BP-KT) combined with conventional therapy (CT) on plantar tactile sensation (PTS) and gait ability in patients with subacute stroke by comparing BP-KT with tibialis anterior KT (TA-KT).
Design:
A single-center, participant-blinded, randomized controlled trial.
Setting:
Rehabilitation center.
Participants:
Fifty-two subacute stroke survivors (N=52) were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups.
Interventions:
All participants performed 30 minutes of CT, and each group additionally received either BP-KT or TA-KT. Both interventions were performed 5 times a week for a 4-week period.
Main Outcome Measures:
The primary outcome was PTS. The secondary outcomes included spatiotemporal gait parameters (step length, stance phase, swing phase, step width, cadence, and velocity) and the variability of these parameters.
Results:
The BP-KT group showed statistically significant improvements in PTS at the first metatarsal head (P=.003; η²=0.159), fifth metatarsal head (P=.025; η²=0.096), and lateral longitudinal area (P=.015; η²=0.114). Statistically significant improvements were observed in the BP-KT group compared with those in the TA-KT group in step length (P=.005; η²=0.679), single stance (P=.037; η²=0.084), and velocity (P=.018; η²=0.180). There was a statistically significant decrease in the coefficient of variation for step length (P=.042; η²=0.080) and step width (P=.018; η²=0.107).
Conclusions:
BP-KT combined with CT effectively enhanced PTS and gait ability in patients with subacute stroke, and it proved to be more effective than TA-KT combined with CT. These findings suggest that BP-KT may be a useful adjunctive method for gait rehabilitation in patients with stroke.
