Comparison of proprioception between Kinesiology and adhesive ankle taping: a randomised experimental study

Background: Literature shows conflicting results regarding the effects of Adhesive and Kinesiology taping effect on ankle proprioception. Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of Adhesive Taping (AT) and Kinesiology Taping (KT) on the ankle proprioception on a multi axial plane of motion and compare the two methods for any pre-eminence between them. Design: Randomised experimental study Method: Twenty healthy University affiliated participants were recruited. The participants were examined with the Biodex Balance Scale (BBS), in three parameters: non-taped, AT and KT taping in a random order. A monopodalic, dominant leg stance was utilised during the trials. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used in order to analyse the data. The alpha level was set at 0.05. Results: This study found that KT had statistically significant influence on the ankle proprioception at the sagittal plane of motion (p=0.037). The comparison between the KT and the non-taped for the Overall Stability Index was close to be significant (p=0.051). Kinesiology taping indicated improvement for the mean values compared to both AT and non-taped group. There were no statistically significant results between the AT and KT. Conclusion: The study indicates that an inexpensive modality, such as KT, can enhance ankle proprioception in healthy population and therefore reduce the occurrence of ankle injuries. Further studies are essential in order to investigate the effectiveness of taping methods on ankle proprioception in a population with ankle musculoskeletal injuries and pathology