Kinesio Taping reduces disability and pain slightly in chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomised trial

Question

Does Kinesio Taping reduce disability, pain, and kinesiophobia in people with chronic non-specific low back pain?

Design

Randomised trial, with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis.

Participants

Sixty adults with chronic non-specific low back pain.

Intervention

The experimental intervention was Kinesio Taping over the lumbar spine for one week; the control intervention was sham taping.

Outcome measures

The following outcomes were measured at baseline, immediately after the week with the tape in situ, and four weeks later: Oswestry Disability Index, Roland- Morris Low Back Pain and Disability Questionnaire, pain on a 10-cm visual analogue scale, Tampa kinesiophobia scale, trunk flexion range of motion, and the McQuade test of trunk muscle endurance.

Results

At one week, the experimental group had significantly greater improvement in disability, by 4 points (95% CI 2 to 6) on the Oswestry score and by 1.2 points (95% CI 0.4 to 2.0) on the Roland-Morris score. However, these effects were not significant four weeks later. The experimental group also had a greater decrease in pain than the control group immediately after treatment (mean between-group difference 1.1 cm, 95% CI 0.3 to 1.9), which was maintained four weeks later (1.0 cm, 95% CI 0.2 to 1.7). Similarly trunk muscle endurance was significantly better at one week (by 23 sec, 95% CI 14 to 32) and four weeks later (by 18 sec, 95% CI 9 to 26). Other outcomes were not significantly affected.

Conclusion

Kinesio Taping reduced disability and pain in people with chronic non-specific low back pain, but these effects may be too small to be clinically worthwhile. Trial registration: ACTRN12612000402842.