Short-term Effects of Elastic Therapeutic Taping on Static and Dynamic Balance in Chronic Stroke

Introduction: The current pilot study aimed to examine the short-term effects of ankle Elastic Therapeutic Taping (ETT) on static and dynamic balance. Methods: Twenty-Four individuals with chronic stroke were assigned to an experimental or control group (n=12/group); they both received Conventional Physical Therapy (CT) for 3 weeks, 3 times per week. The experimental group additionally underwent taping to the ankle of the paretic side continuously for 3 weeks. Standardized measures for static and dynamic balance were administered at pre-test and post-test and analyzed using Wilcoxon and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results: The experimental group significantly improved on two measures, Biodex anteriorposterior static (P=0.03) and medial-lateral dynamic (P=0.04) balance indices, compared to the controls. Both groups improved within their respective groups for Berg Balance Scale and Functional Reach (P 0.05). Static balance consistently improved across measures with the experimental intervention with large effect sizes. Conclusion: Ankle ETT, combined with CT, may be effective in the short-term for improving static and dynamic balance in stroke, compared to CT alone. A future larger randomized trial with longer follow-up is required to establish this method’s effectiveness.