Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Physical Therapy

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

First Advisor

Alicia Fernandez-Fernandez

Date of original Performance / Presentation

January 2022

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

Background: There is an abundance of research evidence supporting kinesiotape (KT) application for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), but there is little research regarding the effectiveness and feasibility of self-application of quadriceps KT in this population. Reducing the number of physical therapy (PT) visits by using self-application of quadriceps KT could promote accessibility to PT services. Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of self-application of quadriceps KT with and without home exercise program (HEP) on pain, muscle strength, balance, range of motion (ROM), and functional performance in older adults with knee OA. Study Design: Single-blind randomized controlled study. Methods: Community-dwelling participants over 50 years old with physician-diagnosed knee OA were randomly allocated to three groups, KT only (group A, n=25), KT and HEP (group B, n=25), and HEP only (group C, n=25). Intervention included one session of patient education on self-application of quadriceps KT and/or HEP. Pain, muscle strength, balance, ROM, and knee function were measured prior to intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention. For group A, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was utilized for all outcomes, except a paired t-test for TUG for within-group analysis. A Kruskal Wallis H test was used for between-groups analysis with post hoc Dunn’s test. Epsilon square was used to measure effect size. Results: Within-subjects data analysis showed statistically significant changes in KT-only group, with reduced knee joint pain and improved HHD, TUG, ROM, and ShortMAC, p < .001. Between-groups data analysis showed that KT + HEP was superior to KT-only and HEP-only with reduced knee joint pain and improved HHD, TUG, ROM, and ShortMAC, p < .001. Effect sizes ranged from 0.50 (strong) to 0.82 (very strong). Participants demonstrated 100% adherence. HEP completion percentages for KT + HEP and HEP-only groups were 87.7% and 89.7%, respectively, and self-application of quadriceps KT completion percentages were 89.1% in KT-only group and 85.8% in KT + HEP group. Conclusion: Quadriceps KT self-application alone could be a useful and feasible measure for patients with knee OA. Combination of quadriceps KT self-application with HEP is superior to quadriceps KT self-application or HEP alone for patients with knee OA

Disciplines

Physical Therapy

Keywords

Knee osteoarthritis; Quadriceps KT self-application

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