OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of postural rehabilitation (PR) on trunk asymmetry and balance, with and without Kinesio Taping (KT) of the back muscles as additional treatment. DESIGN: Single blind randomized controlled trial, with 1-month follow-up. SETTING: Ambulatory care in referral center. PARTICIPANTS: 20 patients with PD showing postural abnormalities of trunk, on the sagittal and/or coronal plane. INTERVENTIONS: Four weeks of patient-tailored proprioceptive and tactile stimulation, combined with stretching and postural reeducation, were provided to 13 subjects (PR), while 7 received no treatment (CG). Six out of 13 also underwent the application of KT strips to trunk muscles, according to the posture abnormality features. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Berg Balance scale, Timed Up and Go, degrees of trunk bending on the sagittal and coronal plane were assessed at the enrollment (T0), one (T1) and two months later (T2). RESULTS: At T1, all treated patients showed a significant improvement in the trunk posture both in the sagittal (p = 0.002) and coronal planes (p = 0.01), with respect to baseline. Moreover, they showed an improvement in measures of gait and balance (p < 0.01). Benefits persisted at T2, for all measures, except lateral trunk bend. No differences were found when comparing PR to KT groups. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of active posture correction and trunk movements, muscle stretching and proprioceptive stimulation may usefully impact PD axial symptoms. Repeated training is advocated to avoid waning of the effect.

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