Introduction: The
rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tearing is more common in female
athletes and one of thereasons is the effect of sex hormones. It was
illustrated that knee joint position sense (JPS) isaltered across the menstrual
cycle and its lowest level is at menses. Therefore, it’s important to find a
method to reduce injury risk at menses. Thus, the purpose of this study was to
evaluate the effect of taping as a stimulator of skin, on the knee JPS in
healthy female athletes across the menstrual cycle with different levels of
estrogen and progesterone. Materials
and Methods: In
this semi-experimental study, 16 healthy female athletes with regular menstrual
cycle voluntarily participated. Knee JPS was measured at 3 menstrual cycle
phases, before and after patellataping. JPS was evaluated by reproduction of
the target angle (30° flexion) in standing position, from full extension. Serum
estrogen and progesterone levels were collected in these 3 phases. Knee angles
were measured by using a system comprised of skin markers, digital photography,
and autoCAD software. Absolute error was considered as a dependent variable. Results: There
was a significant difference between the knee JPS in 3 phases of measurement
before taping (P=0.025), while no significant difference was found between knee
JPS in 3 phases after taping (P=0.965). Conclusion: Findings
of this study suggest that healthy female athletes have different levels of
knee JPS across a menstrual cycle and its accuracy decreasesat menses. This
differencecan be reduced by skin stimulatingmethods, such as taping. Therefore,
kinesio taping would improve the knee JPSdeficiency at menses.