ORIGINAL RESEARCH. THE RELIABILITY OF THE MODIFIED REVERSE-6 TAPING PROCEDURE WITH ELASTIC TAPE TO ALTER THE HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF THE MEDIAL LONGITUDINAL ARCH.

Purpose/Background: Anti-pronation-taping utilizing both inelastic and elastic tape has been advocated to reduce pain and symptoms associated with excessive foot pronation. An important question regarding the use of taping is whether it can be applied consistently from one therapist to the next, from one session to the next or from one day to the next. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the “modified” Reverse-6 taping procedure using elastic tape could be applied to produce a consistent within-day and between-day change in the height and width of the medial longitudinal arch for a single clinician as well as between clinicians. A second purpose was to determine if the amount of general clinical experience influenced this consistency. Methods: Fifteen asymptomatic individuals (10 female and 5 male) with a mean age of 28.7 years were recruited to participate in this study. The height and width of the midfoot at 50% of each subject's foot length was measured in standing using a digital gauge and caliper. These measurements were done twice on the same day, on two different days and again by two clinicians with different levels of experience before and after having their feet taped using the “modified” Reverse-6 taping technique using elastic tape. Both clinicians received a one-hour training session on how to apply the taping technique and were also given a DVD showing the technique that they could review. In addition to descriptive statistics, intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to assess each clinician's within-day and between-day reliability. Between-clinician reliability was also determined. Results: The mean dorsal arch height and midfoot width before the application of tape was 62.7 and 78.9 mm. The mean dorsal arch height and width after the application of tape was 66.6 and 78.8 mm. The within-day reliability ICC(2,1) values for the two clinicians ranged from .865 to .991. The between-day reliability ICC(2,1) values for the two clinicians ranged from .874 to .985. The between-clinician reliability ICC(2,1) values ranged from .918 to .993. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the “modified” Reverse-6 foot taping technique using elastic tape can be used by more than one therapist for the same patient as well as from one session to the next with excellent reliability. Level of Evidence: Level 2, Prospective Cohort Study [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]