Can taping reduce menstrual pain, distress, and anxiety? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Nowadays, Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a common problem with varying degree of symptoms in women. The present study is aimed to provide evidence for effect of taping on pain and related symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea such as menstrual distress and anxiety, along with effect of duration of given intervention on pain. The electronic databases such as PubMed and Cochrane library were searched from inception to February 2021, using appropriate keywords related to the study condition and outcome measures. Eight studies were selected for review based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. The methodological quality and risk of bias was assessed by “Physi-otherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale” and Cochrane collaboration tool for risk of bias assessment, respectively. The findings from their analysis suggested that taping was significantly reducing pain (p = 0.0004), menstrual distress (p = 0.02) and anxiety level (p < 0.00001) in individual who received taping when compared to the individuals who did not received taping as an intervention. In addition, subgroup analysis based on total duration of taping intervention revealed that short-term taping (<1 month) was significantly effective (p < 0.00001) in reducing pain as compared to long-term taping (>1 month) (p = 0.12). The study concluded that taping can be used as an effective short-term treatment method to reduce pain, menstrual distress and anxiety level among individuals with primary dysmenorrhea.