The Effects of Kinesio Taping on Reaction Time, Pain, Hand Grip Strength and Upper Extremity Functional State in Patients with Lateral Epicondylitis

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the effects of kinesio taping (KT) in addition to conventional physiotherapy methods, on visual reaction time (VRT) and auditory reaction time (ART), pain, handgrip strength (HGS), and upper extremity function in patients with lateral epicondylitis (LE). Materials and Methods: 70 patients diagnosed with LE by a physician in a university hospital were included in the study. Patients with LE were randomly divided into “Inhibitory KT” (IKT) and “Sham KT” (SKT) groups. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) measures were made at rest (VAS-R), with movement (VAS-M), and at night (VAS-N) separately. Hubbard Scientific reaction timer for VRT-ART assessment, quick disability of the arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire (Quick DASH) for the functional state, and Jamar hand dynamometer measurements for HGS were recorded for pre-treatment and post-treatment comparisons. Results: In pre-treatment and post-treatment group comparison, it was found that both groups showed statistically significant recov-ery in all parameters (p<0.05). When post-treatment data of the groups were compared, it was found that VAS-M, VAS-R, VRT, and ART scores showed a statistically significant decrease in the IKT group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The present study shows that KT application in addition to conventional physiotherapy was an effective method in LE’s conservative treatment. Statistically significant differences were found on pain, reaction time (RT) scores in favor of the IKT group when the post-treatment results of both groups were compared.

Keywords

• handgrip strength
• lateral epicondylitis
• kinesio taping
• pain
• reng