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 elastictherapeutic taping (ett) on static and dynamic balance.methods: twenty-four individuals with chronic stroke were assigned to an experimental orcontrol group (n=12/group); they both received conventional physical therapy (ct) for 3weeks, 3 times per week. the experimental group additionally underwent taping to the ankleof the paretic side continuously for 3 weeks. standardized measures for static and dynamicbalance were administered at pre-test and post-test and analyzed using wilcoxon and analysisof covariance (ancova).results: the experimental group significantly improved on two measures, biodex anteriorposteriorstatic (p=0.03) and medial-lateral dynamic (p=0.04) balance indices, compared tothe controls. both groups improved within their respective groups for berg balance scale andfunctional reach (p<0.05). static balance consistently improved across measures with theexperimental intervention with large effect sizes.conclusion: ankle ett, combined with ct, may be effective in the short-term for improvingstatic and dynamic balance in stroke, compared to ct alone. a future larger randomized trialwith longer follow-up is required to establish this method’s effectiveness.