Background: Ankle instability usually occurs after stroke, and contributes to unsafe walking and associated risk of falling in the affected patients.
Objective: To investigate the effects of kinesiology taping (KT) on gait and balance ability (center of pressure, CoP) in patients with ankle instability after stroke.
Design: One group, pre-post design.
Methods: A total of 11 patients with ankle instability after stroke were enrolled. In all subjects, the gait and balance ability were assessed under 2 conditions: KT and barefoot. Gait and balance ability was assessed using GAITRite system and FDM-S platform.
Results: Comparison between KT and barefoot condition, KT condition was significantly higher in velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length than barefoot condition (P<.05). KT condition was significantly lower in CoP path length and sway speed than barefoot condition (P<.05).
Conclusion: KT indicated potential as a helpful method for walking and balancing ability in patients with ankle instability after stroke. Therefore, this study recommends KT as an option applicable to the stroke with ankle instability.

INTRODUCTION
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
    Participants
    Study procedure
    KT application
    Outcome measurements
    Data analysis
RESULTS
    General characteristics of the subjects
    Assessment of gait function
    Assessment of static balance function
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

• Donghwan Oh(Department of Occuptional Therapy, Kyungdong University)
• Jaeyoung Park(Department of Physical Therapy, Kyungwoon University)
• Jinuk Kim(Department of Emergency Medical Services, Kyungdong University) Correspondence