AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Kinesio Taping (KT) on the body functions and activity of children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD: This study was designed as a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Thirty children with unilateral spastic CP were randomized and split equally between the KT group (eight males, seven females; mean age 9 y (SD 2 y 3 mo) range 7 to 12 y) and the control group (seven males, eight females; mean age 9 y 7 mo (SD 3 y 4 mo) range 7 to 14 y) receiving usual care. All participants were evaluated with the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM), the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP), the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), short-term muscle power, agility and functional muscle strength tests. Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to evaluate within and between-group differences respectively. The level of significance was accepted as p < 0.05. RESULTS: There were significant differences in muscle power sprint (p = 0.003), lateral step-up test right (p = 0.016), sit to stand (p = 0.018), attain stand through half knee right (p = 0.003), BOTMP Gross scores (p = 0.019), and WeeFIM total (p = 0.003) and self-care scores (p = 0.022) between the groups (p < 0.05). INTERPRETATION: Kinesio Taping is a promising additional approach to increase proprioceptive feedback and improve physical fitness, gross motor function, and activities of daily living in children with CP.

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