The effects of Kinesio Tape application with different verbal input given to with patients with rotator cuff tear

PURPOSE: Rototor cuff tears are most common of shoulder pain.and functional limitations. Kinesio tape (KT) are frequently used in the conservative treatment of shoulder pathology. Even if some studies showed that KT is effective on pain, we think that it is due to positive thoughts of the patients about KT. The aim of the study to investigate the effectiveness KT aplication with different verbal inputs on pain, function and range of motion (ROM) on patient with rotator cuff tear. MATERIALS-METHODS: 97 patients (Group 1, n=32; Group 2, n=33, Group 3, n=32) were randomized into 3 groups according to verbal input given to patients about the effectiveness of KT; Group 1 (it has been limited evidence of KT is effective), Group 2 (it has been not known that KT is effective or not), Group 3 (it has been known that KT has excellent result). The same standard KT was applied to 3 groups. The rest, night and pain in activity were assessed by VAS before, after 30 min and 24 hours after KT application. ROM assessed by goniometer and the function was evaluated by Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and ASES before and 24 hours of KT application. Minimal clinically important difference and effective were calculated for the assessments used in the study. RESULTS: Demographic variables were not different between groups. Resting pain did not change in Group 1 and Group 2 (p˂0,05), however all pain parameters was significantly reduced in Group 3 (p = 0.001). Intra-group changes of ROM were not significant in all groups. DASH and ASES were significantly improved only Group 2 and 3. However, there were not significant different in terms of VAS, ROM, DASH and ASES among three groups (p˃0,05). The effect size was found in only positive verbal given group (Group 3) higher than the other groups, but the effect size was found very low. CONCLUSIONS: According to our result, KT application with positive input was found effective on pain and function. However effect size was very weak. In addition this improvement was not clinically significant.