Investigation of the effect of kinesiotaping on the respiratory function and depression in male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective, randomized, controlled, and single-blind study

Objectives We aimed to investigate the effect of kinesiotaping (KT) on the respiratory parameters as measured by spirometry and depression in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Methods In this prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blind study 42 male patients with COPD diagnosis were randomized into two groups. In Group1 (n = 21) routine COPD medical treatment plus kinesiotaping and in Group2 (n = 21) only routine COPD medical treatment was given. KT was changed on every fifth day (for a total of three times and 15 days). The patients were assessed using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for difficulty experienced by the patients during respiration, respiratory function test (RFT), modified medical research council (mMRC) dyspnea scale and beck depression inventory (BDI). The data were obtained before treatment and posttreatment. Results In Group 1; statistically significant improvement was found in all parameters except for FVC and FVC % following treatment compared to pretreatment values. Comparison of the difference scores (the amount of recovery between posttreatment and pretreatment) of the two groups showed significantly superior improvement in Group1 for all parameters except for FVC, FVC % and FEV1% following the treatment (p < .05). Conclusions The results of this study showed that supplementary kinesiotaping improved respiratory function and depression significantly compared to only routine medical treatment in COPD patients who were in stable condition.