earticle

영어

Background: Patellar tendinopathy, which accounts for approximately 10% of clinical knee diagnoses, is characterized by anterior knee pain and patellar tendon dysfunction, affecting around 54% of adults and athletes. This study aimed to the effects of knee unloading taping with sham taping on pain, function, and psychosocial well-being in patients with patellar tendinopathy and to provide relevant clinical data. Methods: Thirty-nine participants diagnosed with patellar tendinopathy were treated with basic physical therapy and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=20) or the sham taping (control group, n=19). The intervention was applied three times per week over four weeks, totaling 12 sessions. Evaluations were conducted using the numeric rating scale (NRS), knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), five-time-sit-to-stand test (FTSST), and the 12-item short form survey (SF-12), both before and after the intervention. Results: In the experimental group, all evaluation metrics showed significant improvement after the intervention (p<.05). In the control group, no significant changes were observed in the evaluation metrics, except for the FTSST, which did improve (p<.05). Comparing post-intervention results between the experimental and control groups, significant increases were noted in the KOOS (pain, symptoms, quality of life, total) and SF-12 scores (p<.05). Additionally, significant differences were found across groups and measurement time points for all evaluation metrics (p<.05). Conclusion: Patellar unloading taping was found to be an effective intervention for patients with patellar tendinopathy, demonstrating significant benefits in reducing pain, improving function, and enhancing psychosocial well-being.