Efeitos do Kinesio Taping® na dor, capacidade funcional e percepção global de mudança em mulheres com osteoartrite de joelho: ensaio clínico, controlado e randomizado

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It is estimated that it approximately 300 million people worldwide are affected by Osteoarthritis (OA), being this condition more prevalent in women and the knee the most affected joint. In this sense, Kinesio Taping® (KT) method presents itself as a broad and practical alternative for improvements in patients’ signs and symptoms, although its lack of sufficient evidence. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of KT application on pain, functional capacity and Global Impression of Change in women with Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: This is a randomised controlled trial conducted with 45 women with KOA randomised into 3 groups: G1 (control = minimal intervention with health education about KOA), G2 (KT with tension = two techniques: ‘Y’ with 30% tension and ‘FAN’ with 10% tension); and G3 (KT group without tension = two techniques ‘Y’ and ‘FAN’ with 0% tension). Assessments occurred before (T0), immediately after (T1) and 72 hours after intervention (T2). Three outcomes were assessed: Knee Pain (at T0, T1 and T2), functional capacity (T0 and T2) and Global Impression of Change (T2). All data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20.0. We adopted a significance level of 5% and 95% CI. RESULTS: In intergroup comparisons at different times through the differences between means (MD) there were no differences, neither clinically relevant for the variables pain and functional capacity. At T1, for a pain variable comparing G1-G2 (MD = -1.2; p = 0.67), G1-G3 (MD = 0.66; p = 0.99), G2-G3 (MD = -1.8; p = 0.18); and at T2 instant T2, G1-G2 (MD = 0.13; p = 0.98), G1-G3 (MD = 1.4; p = 0.39), G2-G3 (MD = -1.3 ; p = 0.50). And for a functional capacity variable, in T2, G1-G2 (MD = 67.8; p = 0.20), G1-G3 (MD = -2.3; p = 0.99), G2-G3 (MD = 90.8; p = 0.10). However, G2 and G3 source values were more favourable to an improvement, differently from volunteers in the control group. CONCLUSION: Through the findings of the present study, it can be suggested that the application of KT does not have any positive effects in terms of decreasing knee pain and improving functional capacity in women with KOA, although they reported some improvements after the intervention.