The purpose of this study was to examine two different types of KT Tape® to determine if one provided superior ankle stability over the other. The researchers wanted to test the company’s marketing claims that KT tape Pro provides better stability over their KT cotton tape. The hypothesis was that KT tape Pro will not provide superior ankle stability when compared to KT cotton tape
Method:
15 males & 15 females participated in this study. All subjects were undergraduate students. A single leg stability test on a Biodex Balance System SD machine was used. Each test had three trials, lasting 20 seconds each. The subjects completed the test twice in both conditions (with the KT cotton tape & with the KT tape Pro). Subjects were asked to wait 48 hours before conducting their second test to minimize fatigue and learning effects.
Analysis/Results:
No significant difference was found using a paired sample t-test between the ankle stability using KT cotton tape vs. KT tape Pro (p=0.904). The mean and standard deviation test scores for the KT cotton tape are as follows: m=2.167, sd=1.1209. The mean and standard deviation for the KT tape Pro are as follows: m= 2.1400, sd-1.1776. The results from our previous study that compared KT cotton, traditional athletic tape and a placebo tape showed no significant improvements in stability with the KT tape.
Conclusions:
The results of this study showed that KT tape Pro does not provide superior stability when compared to KT cotton tape. The researchers’ hypothesis was supported. Therefore, the marketing claim by KT tape that Pro tape provides superior stability is shown to be false. Our previous study showed that tape did improve stability scores, but there was no significant improvement using KT tape over traditional or flex tape(placebo). Thus the advertising and anecdotal testimony to the superiority of KT tape is unfounded. Recommendations for further study: Compare both types of tapes under harsh environmental conditions (i.e. test events in the field or aquatic sports).
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