Effects of Kinesio-Taping in pain and quality of life in the elderly with knee osteoarthritis—a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent injuries in elderly people. This injury causes pain, edema, and issues with life quality. There are many possible treatments for knee OA, one that is becoming popular is the application of Kinesio Taping (KT). This technique appears to improve muscle strength, reduce pain and edema. Purpose: To verify the effect of the KT technique on pain and quality of life in elderly with knee OA. Methods: 76 participants with knee OA were first assessed for quality of life via the WOMAC questionnaire and pain via pressure algometry that measured the pressure pain threshold in 6 different areas of the knee (superior patellar extremity, inferior patellar extremity, lateral patellar extremity, medial patellar extremity, lateral knee region and medial knee region). After the baseline evaluation, the subjects were randomly divided into two groups, intervention and placebo. The intervention group (IG) had 38 participants with mean age of 69.6 years (SD 6.9), BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 (SD 4.9) and female/male rate of 35:3; the Placebo group (PG) had 38 participants with mean age of 68.6 years (SD 6.3), BMI of 31.3 kg/m2 (SD 4.1) and female/male rate of 31:7. IG group received KT on the quadriceps muscle, following the Y technique from origin to insertion, also received KT for lymphatic correction and space correction. The GP received elastic tapes without any therapeutic indication. All participants kept the tapes on for 4 days. Post-application evaluations were carried out at day 4 (post-treatment) and 19 (follow-up) after the start of the treatment. Results: Prior to treatment the IG group had mean pain thresholds that varied from 2.3 kgf (SD 1.0) to 4.8 kgf (SD 2.1) while for the PG it varied from 2.1 kgf (0.8 SD) to 4.6 kgf (SD 1.6). For the IG, after treatment, the mean pain threshold varied from 2.4 kgf (SD 1.1) to 4.9 kgf (SD 1.6) at day 4, and from 2.6 kgf (SD 0.9) to 5.1 kgf (SD 5.1) at day 15. For the PG the mean pain threshold varied from 2.2 kgf (SD 0.8) to 4.7 kgf (SD 1.6) at day 4 and from 2.5 kgf (SD 0.5) to 4.7 kgf (SD 1.0) at day 15. For quality of life, the IG had a mean score of 48.3 (SD 14.5) in the WOMAC questionnaire while the PG had a mean score of 48.6 (SD 18.5) prior to treatment. After treatment the IG had a mean WOMAC score of 36.7 (SD 15.6) at day 4 and 39.9 (SD 15.8) at day 15 while the PG had a mean score of 39.2 (SD 18.9) at day 4 and 42.8 (SD 16.9) at day 15. There were no between group differences for any of the variables investigated at any assessment time. Conclusion(s): KT technique provided no beneficial effects on pain and quality of life in elderly with knee OA. Implications: There seems to be trend toward the use of KT for various musculoskeletal problems however the results seem here do not support the use of the technique given the lack of positive effect and costs associated to this technique.