Effects of Kinesio Tape on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Table 1

Characteristics of the included studies.

First author, year	Age (years),	Method that induced DOMS	Assessed muscle	Sample size	KT technique	Outcome	Time point
Boobphachart, 2017 [4]	KTG^§:	Eccentric exercise: 4 sets of 25 maximal voluntary eccentric contractions at a velocity of 60°/s with 3 min rest between sets	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	Elastic tape (Kinesio® Tex Gold™) with 5 cm width and 20 cm length was applied on the rectus femoris	VAS^†, peak torque, CK^¶	0, 24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS‡
	CG^§:			Placebo ()
Dong, 2019 [22]	KTG:	A knee extensor training instrument (Hur, Finland) was adopted, and 70% maximum load intensity (1 RM) was selected for knee stretching exercises (knee motion was 80°, 5 groups, 10 times/group, with 2-min rest between sets)	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	The tape was cut in an I-shape, and Kinesio tape involved the quadriceps muscle	VAS, CK	0, 24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
	CG:			No treatment ()
Hazar Kanik, 2019 [5]	22 (20–28) ||	Eccentric exercise: five sets of 20 drop jumps were performed with a 10 s interval between each jump and 2 min rest between sets	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	The tape could be stretched to 140% of its original length, and the tape was left on the participants’ skin for the next 72 h	VAS, maximal isometric muscle strength, CK	0, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
				Placebo ()
Kirmizigil, 2019 [23]		Eccentric exercise: 5 sets of 20 drop jumps from a 0.6-m-high box with 10 s intervals between each jump and 2 min rest between sets	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	The 5 cm width KT (Kinesio® Tex Gold™) applied to the participants could be stretched to 140% of its original length; the tape was cut in a Y-shape and worn over a period of 3–5 days	VAS	0, 0.5, 24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
				No treatment ()
Lee, 2015 [24]	KTG:	Eccentric exercise: dumbbells were used to elicit 70% of the maximal isometric muscle strength (1 RM) of each subject in order to induce DOMS; the participants slowly extended their elbows to the fully extended position against resistance	Biceps brachii muscle	KT ()	KT was applied to the biceps brachii on the nondominant side in a direction perpendicular to the muscle fibers	VAS	24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
	CG:			No treatment ()
Szymura, 2016 [25]		Eccentric exercise: two 60 min downhill runs with a constant intensity	Quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles	KT ()	For lymphatic application of the Kinesio tape, a 5 cm width K-active tape was used for 48 h	VAS	0, 24, 48, 72 h after DOMS
				No treatment ()
Zhang, 2017 [26]	KTG:	Eccentric exercise: full-squat frog jump and 30 times half-squat jump with 10 kg load	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	The 5 cm width KT applied to the participants had a feature of being stretched to 110% of its original length; Kinesio tape involved the quadriceps muscle over 4 days	VAS, peak torque, CK	0, 24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
	CG:			Placebo ()
Zhong, 2019 [27]	KTG:	Eccentric exercise: 15 times full-squat frog jump and 30 times half-squat jump with load, a total of 10 sets, with 2 min between sets to rest	Quadriceps muscles	KT ()	The 5 cm width KT applied to the participants can be stretched to 110% of its original length; Kinesio tape involved the quadriceps muscle over 4 days.	VAS, peak torque	0, 24, 48, and 72 h after DOMS
	CG:			No treatment ()

^§KTG: Kinesio tape group; ^§CG: control group; KT: Kinesio tape; ^†VAS: visual analogue scale; ^¶CK: creatine kinase; ^‡DOMS: delayed onset muscle soreness; ^||median (minimum–maximum).