| Objects:Ankle sprain is one of the most injury in the daily life and sports activities,which can lead to with chronic ankle instability(CAI)further causing the deficits of ankle proprioception,balance and other functional activities.Researches have showed that kinesiology taping(KT)may improve ankle proprioceptive performance,balance and other activities performance.However,in practical application,the effect of KT will be related to the length of the taping and the density of the hair,which has not been studied yet.Therefore,this study mainly studies the effect of KT length on ankle functional activities in individuals with CAI,and explores the correlation between hair density and taping effect,so as to provide guidance for the practical application of KT.Methods:Fifteen participants have unilateral CAI(CAI group: 8 female and 7 male,age =23.9±2.6 years,height = 171.1±8.1 cm,weight = 63.0±8.2 Kg)and fifteen participants have no CAI(non-CAI group: 7 female and 8 male,age = 23.1±2.0 years,height =167.7±5.6 cm,weight = 59.1±7.3 Kg)volunteered.All the participants were received the test of ankle proprioception,lower limb dynamic balance,lower limb muscle strength and ankle range of motion when barefoot in the first day.Then,these tests would be retest as well as the visual analogue scale after the short,mid and long length taping with every 24 hours interval in between,respectively.For the KT taping,the order of the three taping was random,and the short length taping only involved foot and ankle complex,the mid length taping was below the knee,the long length taping was above the knee.The Ankle Inversion Discrimination Apparatus for Landing(AIDAL)was used to measure ankle proprioceptive acuity.Y balance test was used to test the dynamic balance ability.Con-Trex isokinetic feedback biomechanical test system was used to measure the maximum muscle strength.The weight bearing lunge test measured the ankle dorsiflexion range.Visual analogue scale was used to measure the self-perceived comfort,support and proprioceptive performance.SPSS V.24 was used for data analysis,with a p-value of 0.05 to determine statistically significant results.Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance(ANOVA)was conducted to measure the effects of the different length taping techniques on ankle proprioception,lower limb dynamic balance,lower limb muscle strength,ankle range of motion and visual analogue scale scores.Independent-sample t-tests and Paired samples t-tests were used to analyze the test results between and within groups.Pearson’s correlation was used to analyze the correlation between leg hair density and taping effect.Results:1.For ankle proprioception,individuals with CAI performed significantly worse across the 4 different conditions(F = 8.196,p = 0.008).There was a significant KT main effect(F = 7.489,p < 0.001)and a significant linear effect(F = 17.083,p < 0.001),suggesting that KT significantly improved ankle inversion proprioceptive performance in landing,and with longer tape length there was greater proprioceptive enhancement.Post-hoc analysis showed that for the CAI group,both mid length(p = 0.013,95%CI =-0.063,-0.009)and long length(p = 0.010,95%CI =-0.067,-0.011)taping can significantly improve ankle proprioceptive performance compared to no tape,whereas for the non-CAI group,ankle proprioceptive discrimination sensitivity was significantly improved only with long length taping(p = 0.007,95%CI =-0.080,-0.015).For visual analogue scale scores,there was also no significant difference for different lengths KT taping in self-perceived comfort,support and proprioceptive performance in two groups.However,the correlation analysis showed that in CAI group,the self-perceived proprioceptive performance was positively correlated with comfort(r = 0.616,p = 0.015)and support(r = 0.551,p = 0.033)after short length taping;the self-perceived proprioceptive performance was positively correlated with comfort(r =0.624,p = 0.013)and the self-perceived comfort was positively correlated with support(r = 0.674,p = 0.006)after mid length taping;the self-perceived comfort was positively correlated with support(r = 0.577,p = 0.024)after long length taping.In the non-CAI group,the self-perceived comfort was positively correlated with support(r = 0.598,p= 0.018)after short length taping;the self-perceived proprioceptive performance was positively correlated with support(r = 0.518,p = 0.048)and the self-perceived comfort was positively correlated with support(r = 0.621,p = 0.014)after mid length taping;the self-perceived proprioceptive performance was positively correlated with comfort(r = 0.748,p = 0.001)and support(r = 0.681,p = 0.005)after long length taping,respectively.2.For Lower limb dynamic balance,KT could improve the results in the posteromedial direction(F = 3.469,p = 0.020),but had no significant improve effect on the anterolateral,posterolateral and comprehensive values.And there was no significant difference between the two groups in all directions under different foot taping conditions.Post-hoc analysis showed that in CAI group,long length taping significantly improved the results of posteromedial(p = 0.005,95%CI =-8.808,-1.870,Cohen’s d = 0.87),posterolateral(p = 0.044,95%CI =-6.679,-0.112,Cohen’s d = 0.57)and comprehensive value(p = 0.030,95%CI =-6.270,-0.371,Cohen’s d = 0.63).However,in non-CAI group,no matter what length taping,there was no significant improvement on the anterolateral,posterolateral,posteromedial and comprehensive values.3.For lower limb muscle strength,no matter at 60 /s or 180 /s angular velocity,there was no significant difference for different lengths KT taping in flexor and extensor muscle strength around ankle,knee and hip in two groups.4.For ankle dorsiflexion range of motion,there was also no significant difference for different lengths KT taping in ankle dorsiflexion range in two groups.5.For correlation between leg hair density and taping effect,there was no correlation between leg hair density and the result of ankle proprioceptive test,balance test and other functional test.Conclusion:KT can improve the ankle proprioception and dynamic balance ability in individuals with CAI instantly.However,the ankle range of motion,lower limb muscle strength and the subjective feeling were not significantly improved.Different lengths of KT have different effect on the ankle proprioception and Y balance test in individuals with CAI.For the ankle proprioceptive test,the middle to long taping improve ankle proprioception equally well in individuals with CAI,but only with long taping can significantly improve ankle proprioception in normal controls.For the Y balance test,with long taping have a significant improve effect on balance performance in normal controls.These findings may be associated with that longer taping provide more cutaneous input,providing guidance for the practical application of KT.In addition,there was no correlation between leg hair density and the result of ankle proprioceptive test,balance test and other functional test,suggesting that the leg hair may not be a factor affecting KT application.Therefore,in the future,hair removal before taping can be determined according to specific needs. |
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