title: Short-term effects of kinesio taping versus cervical thrust manipulation in patients with mechanical neck pain: a randomized clinical trial.
abstract: METHODS
  Randomized clinical trial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the effectiveness of cervical spine thrust manipulation to that of Kinesio Taping applied to the neck in individuals with mechanical neck pain, using self-reported pain and disability and cervical range of motion as measures.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The effectiveness of cervical manipulation has received considerable attention in the literature. However, because some patients cannot tolerate cervical thrust manipulation, alternative therapeutic options should be investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty patients (36 women) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: the manipulation group, which received 2 cervical thrust manipulations, and the tape group, which received Kinesio Taping applied to the neck. Neck pain (11-point numeric pain rating scale), disability (Neck Disability Index), and cervical-range-of-motion data were collected at baseline and 1 week after the intervention by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the patients. Mixed-model analyses of variance were used to examine the effects of the treatment on each outcome variable, with group as the between-subjects variable and time as the within-subjects variable. The primary analysis was the group-by-time interaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant group-by-time interactions were found for pain (F = 1.892, P = .447) or disability (F = 0.115, P = .736). The group-by-time interaction was statistically significant for right (F = 7.317, P = .008) and left (F = 9.525, P = .003) cervical rotation range of motion, with the patients who received the cervical thrust manipulation having experienced greater improvement in cervical rotation than those treated with Kinesio Tape (P<.01). No significant group-by-time interactions were found for cervical spine range of motion for flexion (F = 0.944, P = .334), extension (F = 0.122, P = .728), and right (F = 0.220, P = .650) and left (F = 0.389, P = .535) lateral flexion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with mechanical neck pain who received cervical thrust manipulation or Kinesio Taping exhibited similar reductions in neck pain intensity and disability and similar changes in active cervical range of motion, except for rotation. Changes in neck pain surpassed the minimal clinically important difference, whereas changes in disability did not. Changes in cervical range of motion were small and not clinically meaningful. Because we did not include a control or placebo group in this study, we cannot rule out a placebo effect or natural changes over time as potential reasons for the improvements measured in both groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapy, level 1b.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Physical Therapy, Universidad de Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saavedra-Hernández
authors.forename: Adelaida M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Castro-Sánchez
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Morales
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cleland
authors.forename: Inmaculada C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lara-Palomo
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-de-Las-Peñas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055052:Athletic Tape; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008349:Manipulation, Orthopedic / Q000379:methods; D020393:Manipulation, Spinal / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular