title: The effect of ankle taping and balance exercises on postural stability indices in healthy women.
abstract: [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of ankle taping and balance exercises on postural stability indices in healthy women. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty healthy female students were randomly assigned into two equal groups: ankle taping and balance exercise. The balance exercise group performed balance exercises for 6 weeks, with 3 sessions per week and each session lasting 40 minutes. Ankle joint taping was performed for 6 weeks and was renewed three times a week. Before and after the interventions, overall, anteroposterior, and mediolateral stability indices were measured with a Biodex Balance System in bilateral and unilateral stance positions with the eyes open and closed. [Results] In the taping group during bilateral standing with the eyes closed, the overall stability index changed from 6±1.4 to 4.8±1.3, anteroposterior stability index changed from 4.2±1.27 to 3.4±0.97, and mediolateral stability index changed from 3.2±0.75 to 2.7± 0.7. In the balance exercise group during bilateral standing with the eyes closed, the overall stability index changed from 5.7±1.69 to 4.5±1.94, anteroposterior stability index changed from 4.1±1.61 to 3±1.21, and mediolateral stability index changed from 3.5±1.4 to 2.2± 1.3. No significant difference was seen between the two groups regarding any study variables. [Conclusion] The results showed that compared with the taping technique, balance training increases postural stability in the majority of the studied balance situations.
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Asghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akbari
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarmadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zafardanesh
keywords: Balance exercise; Biodex; Taping