Effects of Kinesio Taping Compared with Manipulation Therapy on Drooling and Speech Intelligibility in Children with Oral Dysphagia: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of Kinesio Taping (KT) and Manipulation Therapy (MT) on drooling and speech intelligibility in children with oral dysphagia. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial was conducted at Helping Hand Institute of Rehabilitation Sciences in Mansehra, Pakistan. A total of 20 patients were recruited via the random sampling technique and later assigned to one of two groups: KT (n = 10) or MT (n = 10). Every patient in both groups received their intervention 5 days a week for 1 month (20 sessions total), and each session lasted 45 minutes. Data was collected and analyzed at baseline and 1 month. Drooling was assessed via the Modified Teachers' Drooling Scale and speech intelligibility determined via the 7-Point Intelligibility Rating Scale. Mann Whitney U-test was used for between-group comparisons and for within-group comparisons the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and their effect size was used. RESULTS: The mean age of study patients was 5.4 years. Of the 20 patients, 14 were male and 6 were female. Within-group comparisons showed significant improvement in both drooling and speech intelligibility (P < .05), while between-group comparisons showed no significant difference (P >/= .05) in either the KT or MT group regarding drooling severity and speech intelligibility. CONCLUSION: KT and MT significantly improved drooling and speech intelligibility.