Early effects of trunk kinesio taping on balance and functional performance in patients with acute stroke

This study was conducted to investigate the early effect of kinesio taping applied to the anterior trunk muscles (rectus abdominus and external oblique) and posterior trunk muscles (thorocal and lumbar erector spinae) on balance and functional performance in patients with acute stroke. This randomized, controlled and single-blind study was conducted on 69 acute stroke patients. Patients were randomized into 3 groups as Trunk Group (TG, n = 23), Back Group (BG, n = 23) and Control Group (CG, n = 23). Kinesio tape was applied to the bilateral rectus abdominis and external oblique muscles of the TG, and to the bilateral thoracal and lumbar erector spinae muscles of the BG; no kinesio tape was applied to CG. The physical and clinical characteristics of all cases were recorded at the first evaluation. The balance was evaluated by Berg Balance Scale, Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients and Wii Balance Board; the trunk performance by Trunk Impairment Scale; the functional performance by 5 Times Sit and Stand Test (5TSST) and the Wii-Basic Balance Test (BBT). All evaluations were repeated after 45 minutes and 48 hours. When the data were analyzed, an improvement was observed in all evaluation parameters over time in three groups (p <0.05). When the amount of change occurring in balance, trunk performance and 5TSST were compared between the groups, TG and BG showed more improvement than CG (p <0.05); it was found that there was no significant difference between TG and BG (p> 0.05). There was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of the amount of change occurring in BBT scores (p> 0.05). As a result of the study, it was found that kinesio taping was effective on balance and trunk performance in the short term, but this effect did not create a statistically significant difference in terms of kinesio taping applied to anterior or posterior trunk muscles. In addition, it was observed that kinesio taping applied to the anterior trunk muscles provided slightly more improvement in balance and trunk performance compared to the posterior trunk muscles.