Effect of kinesiotaping on hand functions in children with cerebral palsy in Al-Neelain University Faculty of Physiotherapy outpatient clinic (April - October 2018)

Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy is a childhood condition in which there is a motor disability caused by a static, non-progressive lesion in the brain. It is classified clinically based on the changes in muscle tone into spastic, dyskinetic, hypotonic, ataxic and mixed cerebral palsy. The upper extremity is frequently affected in children with cerebral palsy. Many children have only mild fine motor difficulties such as in diplegia whereas others are more severely affected (hemiplegia and quadriplegia) Objective: To study the effect of kinesiotaping on hand functions in cerebral palsied children. Methodology: This is a quasi-randomized study conducted in the outpatient Clinic of Faculty of Physiotherapy at AL-Neelain University. 36 patients were recruited and divided randomly into two groups; 18 (study), received kinesiotaping and 18 (comparison), physical therapy exercises. Both groups have been assessed at the baseline and after two weeks for wrist ROM by goniometer, spasticity by Modified Ashworh Scale and hand function assessment by QUEST scale. Data was analyzed by SPSS (version 16). Results: Both study and control group showed statistically significant improvement in ROM and QUEST score (p value < 0.05). Regarding spasticity study group showed highly statistically significant difference (p= 0.000) in contrast to comparison group (p= 0331). Conclusion and recommendations: The study concluded that kinesiotaping is effective in improvement of hand function in cerebral palsied children. We recommend that kinesiotaping should be included in physiotherapy treatment for patients with cerebral palsy, and further studies need to be conducted to show the effect of kinesiotape in combination with exercises and the long term effect and repetitive intervention.