***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: STUDY DESIGN Prospect i ve , r and omized , double-blinded , clinical trial using a repeated- measures design . OBJECTIVES To determine the short-term clinical efficacy of Kinesio Tape ( KT ) when applied to college students with shoulder pain , as compared to a sham tape application . BACKGROUND Tape is commonly used as an adjunct for treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries . A majority of tape applications that are reported in the literature involve nonstretch tape . The KT method has gained significant popularity in recent years , but there is a paucity of evidence on its use . METHODS AND MEASURES Forty-two subjects clinical ly diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis/impingement were r and omly assigned to 1 of 2 groups : therapeutic KT group or sham KT group . Subjects wore the tape for 2 consecutive 3-day intervals . Self-reported pain and disability and pain-free active ranges of motion ( ROM ) were measured at multiple intervals to assess for differences between groups . RESULTS The therapeutic KT group showed immediate improvement in pain-free shoulder abduction ( mean + /- SD increase , 16.9 degrees + /- 23.2 degrees ; P = .005 ) after tape application . No other differences between groups regarding ROM , pain , or disability scores at any time interval were found . CONCLUSION KT may be of some assistance to clinicians in improving pain-free active ROM immediately after tape application for patients with shoulder pain . Utilization of KT for decreasing pain intensity or disability for young patients with suspected shoulder tendonitis/impingement is not supported . LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapy , level 1b- QUESTION Does Kinesio Taping reduce disability , pain , and kinesiophobia in people with chronic non-specific low back pain ? DESIGN R and omised trial , with concealed allocation , assessor blinding , and intention-to-treat analysis . PARTICIPANTS Sixty adults with chronic non-specific low back pain . INTERVENTION The experimental intervention was Kinesio Taping over the lumbar spine for one week ; the control intervention was sham taping . OUTCOME MEASURES The following outcomes were measured at baseline , immediately after the week with the tape in situ , and four weeks later : Oswestry Disability Index , Rol and - Morris Low Back Pain and Disability Question naire , pain on a 10-cm visual analogue scale , Tampa kinesiophobia scale , trunk flexion range of motion , and the McQuade test of trunk muscle endurance . RESULTS At one week , the experimental group had significantly greater improvement in disability , by 4 points ( 95 % CI 2 to 6 ) on the Oswestry score and by 1.2 points ( 95 % CI 0.4 to 2.0 ) on the Rol and -Morris score . However , these effects were not significant four weeks later . The experimental group also had a greater decrease in pain than the control group immediately after treatment ( mean between-group difference 1.1 cm , 95 % CI 0.3 to 1.9 ) , which was maintained four weeks later ( 1.0 cm , 95 % CI 0.2 to 1.7 ) . Similarly trunk muscle endurance was significantly better at one week ( by 23 sec , 95 % CI 14 to 32 ) and four weeks later ( by 18 sec , 95 % CI 9 to 26 ) . Other outcomes were not significantly affected . CONCLUSION Kinesio Taping reduced disability and pain in people with chronic non-specific low back pain , but these effects may be too small to be clinical ly worthwhile . TRIAL REGISTRATION ACTRN12612000402842 & NA ;  Pain intensity is frequently measured on an 11‐point pain intensity numerical rating scale ( PI‐NRS ) , where 0=no pain and 10=worst possible pain . However , it is difficult to interpret the clinical importance of changes from baseline on this scale ( such as a 1‐ or 2‐point change ) . To date , there are no data driven estimates for clinical ly important differences in pain intensity scales used for chronic pain studies . We have estimated a clinical ly important difference on this scale by relating it to global assessment s of change in multiple studies of chronic pain . Data on 2724 subjects from 10 recently completed placebo‐controlled clinical trials of pregabalin in diabetic neuropathy , postherpetic neuralgia , chronic low back pain , fibromyalgia , and osteoarthritis were used . The studies had similar design s and measurement instruments , including the PI‐NRS , collected in a daily diary , and the st and ard seven‐point patient global impression of change ( PGIC ) , collected at the endpoint . The changes in the PI‐NRS from baseline to the endpoint were compared to the PGIC for each subject . Categories of ‘ much improved ’ and ‘ very much improved ’ were used as determinants of a clinical ly important difference and the relationship to the PI‐NRS was explored using graphs , box plots , and sensitivity/specificity analyses . A consistent relationship between the change in PI‐NRS and the PGIC was demonstrated regardless of study , disease type , age , sex , study result , or treatment group . On average , a reduction of approximately two points or a reduction of approximately 30 % in the PI‐NRS represented a clinical ly important difference . The relationship between percent change and the PGIC was also consistent regardless of baseline pain , while higher baseline scores required larger raw changes to represent a clinical ly important difference . The application of these results to future studies may provide a st and ard definition of clinical ly important improvement in clinical trials of chronic pain therapies . Use of a st and ard outcome across chronic pain studies would greatly enhance the comparability , validity , and clinical applicability of these studies OBJECTIVE The purpose of this prospect i ve , r and omized , controlled study was to determine the effects of kinesio taping in the treatment of patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome ( PFPS ) . METHODS Thirty-one women with PFPS ( mean age : 44.88 years ; range : 17 to 50 years ) were r and omly assigned to either a kinesio taping ( KT ) ( n=15 ) or control ( n=16 ) group . Both groups received the same muscle strengthening and soft tissue stretching exercises for six weeks and the KT group additionally received kinesio taping at four day intervals for six weeks . Visual analog scale was used to measure pain intensity . Tension of the iliotibial b and /tensor fascia lata and hamstring muscles and the mediolateral location of the patella were measured before the treatment and at the end of the third and sixth week . The Anterior Knee Pain Scale / Kujala Scale was used for the analysis of functional performance . RESULTS Comparing pretreatment and 6th week values , significant improvements were found in pain , soft tissue flexibility and functional performance of both groups ( p<0.05 ) . However , patellar shift was unchanged ( p>0.05 ) . The KT group had significantly better hamstring flexibility than the control group at the end of three weeks ( p<0.05 ) . CONCLUSION The addition of kinesio taping to the conventional exercise program does not improve the results in patients with PFPS , other than a faster improvement in hamstring muscle flexibility BACKGROUND Kinesio Taping ( KT ) has proved to be effective in various musculoskeletal conditions . Although its precise working mechanism has yet to be fully understood , it is believed to interact with neuromuscular function through mechanoceptor activation . No studies design ed to assess the effects of KT in chronic low back pain ( CLBP ) patients have yet been conducted . AIM The aim of this study was to determine the effects of KT on pain , disability and lumbar muscle function in sufferers of CLBP , both immediately and at a one-month follow-up examination . DESIGN The study consisted of two phases : phase I was based on an intra-subject pre-test/post-test procedure ; phase II was based on a r and omized , single-blinded controlled trial . SETTING Outpatient facility . POPULATION Thirty-nine CLBP patients were enrolled . METHODS KT plus exercise , KT alone or exercise alone have been used for four weeks . Pain , disability and lumbar muscle function were evaluated before and after the treatment period . RESULTS The patients in all three groups displayed a significant reduction in pain after treatment , though only the exercise-alone group displayed reduced disability . A return to normal lumbar muscle function was observed in 28 % of patients , but was not related to a reduction in pain . CONCLUSION When applied to CLBP patients , KT leads to pain relief and lumbar muscle function normalization shortly after its application ; these effects persist over a short follow-up period . CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT KT may represent an effective adjunct therapy in the physical rehabilitation program of CLBP patients for immediate and acute pain control OBJECTIVES To define the minimum clinical ly important difference ( MCID ) for the visual analog scale ( VAS ) of pain severity by measuring the change in VAS associated with adequate pain control . METHODS The authors conducted a prospect i ve , observational study . Adult emergency department ( ED ) patients with acute pain ( < 72 hours ) were eligible . Patients rated their pain severity on a 100-mm VAS on presentation and at discharge . Patients were asked if they would accept any analgesic , then if they would accept a parenteral analgesic before treatment . At discharge , they were asked whether they had received adequate pain control . RESULTS The authors enrolled 143 patients ( mean age , 36 years ; 54 % female ) . The mean decrease in VAS was -30.0 mm ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] = -36.4 to -23.6 ) for the 116 of 143 ( 81 % ) patients with adequate pain control at discharge vs. -5.7 ( 95 % CI = -11.2 to -0.3 ) for the 27 with inadequate pain control ( p < 0.001 ) . At discharge , the mean VAS was 31.3 mm for those with adequate pain control vs. 55.1 for those without . Mean VAS for the 114 of 143 patients who would accept any analgesics initially was 64.7 vs. 47.1 for the 29 reporting no analgesic need . Initially , 77 patients would accept parenteral analgesics ( mean VAS = 72.5 mm ) . CONCLUSIONS A mean reduction in VAS of 30.0 mm represents a clinical ly important difference in pain severity that corresponds to patients ' perception of adequate pain control . Defining MCID based on adequate analgesic control rather than minimal detectable change may be more appropriate for future analgesic trials , when effective treatments for acute pain exist BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Assessment of the quality of r and omized controlled trials ( RCTs ) is common practice in systematic review s. However , the reliability of data obtained with most quality assessment scales has not been established . This report describes 2 studies design ed to investigate the reliability of data obtained with the Physiotherapy Evidence Data base ( PEDro ) scale developed to rate the quality of RCTs evaluating physical therapist interventions . METHOD In the first study , 11 raters independently rated 25 RCTs r and omly selected from the PEDro data base . In the second study , 2 raters rated 120 RCTs r and omly selected from the PEDro data base , and disagreements were resolved by a third rater ; this generated a set of individual rater and consensus ratings . The process was repeated by independent raters to create a second set of individual and consensus ratings . Reliability of ratings of PEDro scale items was calculated using multirater kappas , and reliability of the total ( summed ) score was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients ( ICC [ 1,1 ] ) . RESULTS The kappa value for each of the 11 items ranged from.36 to.80 for individual assessors and from.50 to.79 for consensus ratings generated by groups of 2 or 3 raters . The ICC for the total score was.56 ( 95 % confidence interval=.47-.65 ) for ratings by individuals , and the ICC for consensus ratings was.68 ( 95 % confidence interval=.57-.76 ) . DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The reliability of ratings of PEDro scale items varied from " fair " to " substantial , " and the reliability of the total PEDro score was " fair " to " good . DESIGN R and omized clinical trial . OBJECTIVES To determine the short-term effects of Kinesio Taping , applied to the cervical spine , on neck pain and cervical range of motion in individuals with acute whiplash-associated disorders ( WADs ) . BACKGROUND Research ers have begun to investigate the effects of Kinesio Taping on different musculoskeletal conditions ( eg , shoulder and trunk pain ) . Considering the demonstrated short-term effectiveness of Kinesio Tape for the management of shoulder pain , it is suggested that Kinesio Tape may also be beneficial in reducing pain associated with WAD . METHODS AND MEASURES Forty-one patients ( 21 females ) were r and omly assigned to 1 of 2 groups : the experimental group received Kinesio Taping to the cervical spine ( applied with tension ) and the placebo group received a sham Kinesio Taping application ( applied without tension ) . Both neck pain ( 11-point numerical pain rating scale ) and cervical range-of-motion data were collected at baseline , immediately after the Kinesio Tape application , and at a 24-hour follow-up by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the patients . Mixed-model analyses of variance ( ANOVAs ) were used to examine the effects of the treatment on each outcome variable , with group as the between-subjects variable and time as the within-subjects variable . The primary analysis was the group-by-time interaction . RESULTS The group-by-time interaction for the 2-by-3 mixed 
    Output:
    
The combined results of this meta- analysis indicate that kinesiology tape may have limited potential to reduce pain in individuals with musculoskeletal injury ; however , depending on the conditions , the reduction in pain may not be clinical ly meaningful .
Kinesiology tape application did not reduce specific pain measures related to musculoskeletal injury above and beyond other modalities compared in the context of included articles .