Effect of Ankle Kinesio Taping on Unaffected Foot in Stand-to-Sit Position in Patients with Chronic Stroke

Abstract

Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the effect of applied Kinesio tape on the affected ankle on the amount of exerting force by the non-affected foot in patients with chronic stroke during the stand to sit task. Methods: The current quasi-experimental clinical trial was conducted on 26 patients with chronic stroke. The stand-to-sit task was performed in three positions (symmetric foot placement, and placing the unaffected foot ahead of the affected foot and the unaffected foot behind the affected one), and the vertical axis of the ground reaction force was recorded instantly by a force plate at three time points of 2, 5, and 8 seconds of the stand-to-sit task. Then, Appropriate taping was applied on subjects` affected ankles and all measurements were repeated. Results: At the time points of 2 and 5 seconds, the main effect of foot positions was significant (P = 0.002 and P < 0.0001, respectively); when the tested foot was placed behind, the main effect was significantly different from those of other positions (P = 0.018). However, the main and interactive effect of the tape was not significant (P > 0.05). At the second eight, no significant change was observed (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The current study findings showed that placing the unaffected foot behind the affected one led to more force and there was no significant difference between the forces with and without using the tape.