• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.135-144
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of the subtalar sling ankle taping, by measuring changes in peak plantar pressure and subtalar angle during jump landing and walking in healthy subjects with subtalar sling ankle taping applied of the ankle joint. Fifty healthy subjects(8 males and 7 female, aged 22 to 25) were randomly divided into a participated in this study. They were free of musculoskeletal injury and neurologic deficit in lower extremity. The subjects were asked to perform 5M walking and single leg jump landing by under the guidance of physical therapists. Subtalar motions were typically measured as the angle made between the posterior aspect of the calcaneous and the posterior aspect of the lower leg during walking with taping or not. This measurement were made using a video system (30Hz sampling rate, rectified 60 Hz sampling rate). At the same time, peak lateral and vertical pressure were investigated using pressure distribution platforms(MatScan system) under foot during walking and single leg jump landing with taping or not. Statistical analysis was done by paired t-test and intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC(3.1)], using software SPSS. We have recently demonstrated significantly altered patterns of subtalr joint and peak plantar pressure when applied subtalar sling ankle taping(p<.05). Inversion angle of subtalar joint significantly decreased with taping(p<.05). The result suggest that pressure patterns observed in subjects are likely to result due to significant decrease in stress on ankle joint structures during jump landing and walking. Also, the result that the subtalar sling ankle taping procedure provides greater restiction of motion associated with ankle inversion. However, this study involved asymptomatic subjects without history of ankle inversion injury, further research is needed to assess the motion restraining effect of the subtalar sling ankle taping in subjects with lateral ankle instability.