Publicatie
Publication date
Taping reduces pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Ende, E. van den. Taping reduces pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy: 2004, 50(3), 186
Read online
Question: Is taping of the knee effective in improving pain and disability in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee? Design Randomised controlled trial. Setting University and private practices in Melbourne, Australia. Patients: Volunteers who responded to advertisements in local newspapers. Inclusion criteria were symptoms of knee osteoarthritis as defined by the American College of Rheumatology. Exclusion criteria included allergy to tape, or history of joint replacement, symptoms or signs suggestive of another cause of knee pain, physiotherapy/steroid injection/surgery for the knee (previous six months), body mass index > 38 (owing to difficulties of taping the knee effectively), history of knee taping, and fragile skin around the knee. Patients were randomised into therapeutic tape (n = 29), control tape (n = 29) or no tape (n = 29) groups. Interventions Therapeutic tape provided medial glide, medial tilt, and anteroposterior tilt to the patella and either unloaded the infrapatellar fat pad or the pes anserinus. Hypoallergenic undertape was applied beneath the rigid tape to prevent irritation of the skin. The control tape was hypoallergenic tape alone, laid over the same areas of skin as the therapeutic tape. The tapes were worn for three weeks and reapplied weekly. Participants allocated to the no tape group received no intervention. Outcomes Primary outcomes were pain on movement and pain on worst activity measured on a 0–10 cm scale, and participant perceived rating of change. Secondary outcomes included the pain subscale of the WOMAC osteoarthritis index, the knee pain scale, and the bodily pain domain of the SF-36. All outcomes were assessed at three and six weeks. Main results: The therapeutic tape group reported greater pain reduction than the other two groups, e.g. at six weeks the mean difference (95% CI) for therapeutic tape versus no tape was 2.4 (1.1 to 3.7) for pain on worst activity. Intervention was significantly associated (p = 0.000) with change in pain at three weeks: 73% (21/29) of the therapeutic tape group reported improvement compared with 49% (14/29) of the control tape group, and 10% (3/29) of the no tape group. Significantly greater improvement was observed on most secondary outcomes in the therapeutic tape group compared with the no tape group. Conclusion: Therapeutic knee taping is an effective treatment option for the management of pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Question: Is taping of the knee effective in improving pain and disability in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee? Design Randomised controlled trial. Setting University and private practices in Melbourne, Australia. Patients: Volunteers who responded to advertisements in local newspapers. Inclusion criteria were symptoms of knee osteoarthritis as defined by the American College of Rheumatology. Exclusion criteria included allergy to tape, or history of joint replacement, symptoms or signs suggestive of another cause of knee pain, physiotherapy/steroid injection/surgery for the knee (previous six months), body mass index > 38 (owing to difficulties of taping the knee effectively), history of knee taping, and fragile skin around the knee. Patients were randomised into therapeutic tape (n = 29), control tape (n = 29) or no tape (n = 29) groups. Interventions Therapeutic tape provided medial glide, medial tilt, and anteroposterior tilt to the patella and either unloaded the infrapatellar fat pad or the pes anserinus. Hypoallergenic undertape was applied beneath the rigid tape to prevent irritation of the skin. The control tape was hypoallergenic tape alone, laid over the same areas of skin as the therapeutic tape. The tapes were worn for three weeks and reapplied weekly. Participants allocated to the no tape group received no intervention. Outcomes Primary outcomes were pain on movement and pain on worst activity measured on a 0–10 cm scale, and participant perceived rating of change. Secondary outcomes included the pain subscale of the WOMAC osteoarthritis index, the knee pain scale, and the bodily pain domain of the SF-36. All outcomes were assessed at three and six weeks. Main results: The therapeutic tape group reported greater pain reduction than the other two groups, e.g. at six weeks the mean difference (95% CI) for therapeutic tape versus no tape was 2.4 (1.1 to 3.7) for pain on worst activity. Intervention was significantly associated (p = 0.000) with change in pain at three weeks: 73% (21/29) of the therapeutic tape group reported improvement compared with 49% (14/29) of the control tape group, and 10% (3/29) of the no tape group. Significantly greater improvement was observed on most secondary outcomes in the therapeutic tape group compared with the no tape group. Conclusion: Therapeutic knee taping is an effective treatment option for the management of pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis.