The immediate effect of kinesiotaping versus neoprene brace on the ankle joint position sense in athletes with recurrent ankle sprain: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: A significant factor contributing to recurrent ankle sprains is a deficit in proprioception. This study aimed to compare the effects of Kinesiotaping (KT) and Neoprene bracing (NB) on ankle joint position sense (JPS) in athletes who have experienced recurrent ankle sprains. METHODS: The study involved 66 athletes aged between 20 and 35 years who had recurrent ankle sprains. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, they were randomly divided into three groups. In Group I, KT was applied to the injured ankle, while NB was used in Group II. Group III served as the control group and received no intervention. Ankle JPS was assessed by measuring the average error in reproducing four target angles: 10° and 30° of plantar flexion, and 5° and 20° of inversion. Measurements were taken using a digital goniometer integrated with an isokinetic dynamometer device, both before and after the interventions. The pre and post-intervention values in each group was compared using paired samples t-Test (or Wilcoxon) while the comparisons between three groups were performed using ANOVA (or Kruskal-Wallis-H test). RESULTS: The study findings indicated that, across all four target angles, the mean error in angle reproduction test significantly decreased after the interventions in both the KT and NB groups (P<.01), while no significant change was observed in the control group (P>.05). Furthermore, the improvements in accuracy within KT and NB groups were significantly greater compared with the control group (P<.05). Notably, for the 10° and 30° plantar flexion, the NB group showed significantly superior improvements compared to the KT group (P<.05). However, for the 5° and 20° inversion positions, KT group displayed significantly better outcomes than NB group (P<.01). CONCLUSION: The use of KT and NB appears to be effective interventions for enhancing ankle JPS. This suggests their potential utility as a part of rehabilitation programs aimed at reducing the risk of re-injury. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This clinical trial has been registered in Iranian Registry of clinical trials on 2014-08-21 (IRCT2014041217235N1).