Systematic Review on Effectiveness of shoulder taping in Hemiplegia

Background: Shoulder pain and subluxation are the commonly encountered problems among subjects with hemiplegia. Rehabilitating the shoulder following stroke is a challenging task among physiotherapists in rehabilitation set up. There is a need to validate the effectiveness of externally applied taping materials in hemiplegic shoulder. Objective: This systematic review analyses the efficacy of taping on hemiplegic shoulder in terms of alleviating pain and managing subluxation. Methods: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the effects of taping on hemiplegic shoulder. Articles were electronically searched from the year 2000 to 2017 in the 4 databases, Google scholar, CINAHL, Pubmed, and Pedro. Reviewers graded the papers according to Lloyd-Smith's hierarchy of evidence scale. Papers were quality appraised using a systematic review of RCT tool developed by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (United States), named as quality assessment of controlled intervention studies tool. Results: Eight papers were included, totaling 132 participants. All the RCT's included in this review were good quality. There was a significant effect on taping method for reduction of pain and subluxation among subjects with stroke. Conclusions: This systematic review provides sufficient evidence to suggest taping is a beneficial method for reducing pain and shoulder subluxation among stroke subjects.