Affiliations: [a] Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain | [b] Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain | [c] Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain | [d] Infa Fisioterapia, Sevilla, Spain | [e] Asociación Neuroinvest, Sevilla, Spain
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Alberto M. Heredia-Rizo, PT, Ph.D., Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Sevilla, c/ Avicena s/n, 41009 Sevilla, Spain. Tel.: +34 954486507; Fax: +34 954482168; E-mail: amheredia@us.es.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To compare the short and medium-term effectiveness of combining Kinesio Tape (KT) or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) with a conventional approach to prevent shoulder pain after stroke. METHODS:Thirty-one first-time stroke survivors (58.06% females) were recruited and randomly assigned to one group; Control (n = 10), KT (n = 11), or NMES (n = 10). Ten of all participants were lost during follow-up because of death or a second stroke. The control group underwent conventional treatment (careful shoulder handling and daily mobilizations). This approach was combined with KT or NMES over deltoid muscles in the KT and NMES groups respectively. Measurements were taken at baseline, and at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 24 post-stroke. Data collected included self-perceived shoulder pain (Visual Analogue Scale), disability (Barthel Index and Berg scale), and upper limb function (Action Research Arm test). RESULTS:In all groups, shoulder pain did not appear during the first month (p < 0.001), but increased afterwards. In the between-groups analysis, all groups similarly improved disability and function, and no significant differences were observed for any measure (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION:The combination of KT or NMES with conventional treatment is no superior to conventional treatment alone to prevent hemiplegic shoulder pain.
