Effects of kinesio taping on static balance performance and muscle activity in children with developmental coordination disorder: a single-group pretest-posttest study

Abstract

Objective: To compare the effects of various kinesio tape applications on static balance and muscle activity in children with developmental coordination disorder. Methods: Four taping conditions were applied to 48 children with developmental coordination disorder: no taping, gastrocnemius taping, tibialis anterior taping; and peroneus longus taping. Postural sway and electromyographic data were assessed, with eyes closed (30 s), standing still in 2-leg stance, dominant-leg stance, and non-dominant-leg stance.

Results: Kinesio taping significantly reduced postural sway in both anteroposterior and mediolateral directions for dominant-leg stance and non-dominant-leg stance, but not 2-leg stance. During single-leg stances, anteroposterior sway was significantly lower for the gastrocnemius taping condition than for the no taping, tibialis anterior and peroneus longus taping conditions, and significantly lower in the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus taping conditions than in the no taping condition (gastrocnemius < tibialis anterior = peroneus longus < no taping). In addition, mediolateral sway was significantly lower in the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus taping conditions than in the no taping and gastrocnemius taping conditions, and significantly lower in the gastrocnemius taping condition than in the no taping condition (tibialis anterior = peroneus longus < gastrocnemius < no taping). Electromyographic data showed that muscle activity was significantly greater only for muscles where kinesio tape was applied.

Conclusion: Various kinesio tape applications can differentially reduce postural sway and increase muscle activity during single-leg stances in children with developmental coordination disorder.

Fig. 1

Flow diagram for participants’ recruitment. MABC-2: 2nd edition of The Movement Assessment Battery for Children; KBIT-2: 2nd edition of The Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test; CTRS: Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale.

Fig. 2

Kinesio tape application on: (a) gastrocnemius, (b) tibialis anterior, and (c) peroneus longus.

Fig. 3

Postural sway in the anteroposterior (AP) direction for different stance conditions (2-leg stance (TS), dominant-leg stance (DS) and non-dominant-leg stance (NS)) under 4 taping conditions (NT: no taping; GN: gastrocnemius taping condition; TA: tibialis anterior taping condition; PL: peroneus longus taping condition). Bars: standard errors. *Main effects of taping conditions.

Fig. 4

Postural sway in the mediolateral (ML) direction for different stance conditions (TS: 2-leg stance; DS: dominant-leg stance; NS: non-dominant-leg stance) under 4 taping conditions (NT: no taping; GN: gastrocnemius taping condition; TA: tibialis anterior taping condition; PL: peroneus longus taping condition). Bars: standard errors. *Main effects of taping conditions.

Fig. 5

Normalized root mean squares (RMS) electromyography in gastrocnemius muscle for different stance conditions (TS: 2-leg stance; DS: dominant-leg stance; NS: non-dominant-leg stance) under 4 taping conditions (NT: no taping; GN: gastrocnemius taping condition; TA: tibialis anterior taping condition; PL: peroneus longus taping condition). Bars: standard errors. *Main effects of taping conditions.

Fig. 6

Normalized root mean squares (RMS) electromyography in tibialis anterior muscle for different stance conditions (TS: 2-leg stance; DS: dominant-leg stance; NS: non-dominant-leg stance) under 4 taping conditions (NT: no taping; GN: gastrocnemius taping condition; TA: tibialis anterior taping condition; PL: peroneus longus taping condition). Bars: standard errors. *Main effects of taping conditions.

Fig. 7

Normalized root mean squares (RMS) electromyography in peroneus longus muscle for different stance conditions (TS: 2-leg stance; DS: dominant-leg stance; NS: non-dominant-leg stance) under 4 taping conditions (NT: no taping; GN: gastrocnemius taping condition; TA: tibialis anterior taping condition; PL: peroneus longus taping condition). Bars: standard errors. *Main effects of taping conditions.