Cane-assisted individuals with chronic stroke may perform with an abnormal gait pattern. One of the important factors of gait training for cane-assisted individuals is inducing improvement in lower limb muscle activity of the paretic side. Non-elastic taping on the hip may be used as an adjunct therapy for improving gait. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of non-elastic hip taping combined with exercise on gait in cane-assisted individuals with chronic stroke. This study is a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. A total of 21 cane-assisted ambulators with chronic stroke were enrolled. Participants in both groups received a therapeutic exercise program, with the experimental and control groups having adjunct non-elastic taping and sham taping on the hip, respectively. The gait, Berg Balance Scale, 6-min walk test, and Fall Efficacy Scale-International were measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. The experimental group resulted in significantly better performance in double-support time compared with the control group. Furthermore, the experimental group showed a significant improvement in double-support time and spatial symmetry at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up compared with pre-intervention. This study demonstrated that non-elastic hip taping combined with exercise could improve gait stability in cane-assisted ambulators. Non-elastic hip taping would be a useful adjunct to rehabilitation strategies for individuals with chronic stroke.
Keywords: cardiovascular disease; chronic stroke; gait stability; non-elastic tape; rehabilitation.