Background: Chronic mechanical low back pain is considered a common problem and can reduce daily activities. Kinesio taping is a tape which has similar elasticity to skin. It designed to support lower back, improve postural alignment and reduce stress on the spine during activity.

Aim: To investigate the effect of addition kinesio taping to McKenzie Exercise for functional status in chronic mechanical low back pain patient.

Method: Randomized, controlled trial. Thirty patients with chronic mechanical low back pain was recruited. Participants were allocated into intervention group (n=15) received kinesio taping 7 times for 4 weeks and McKenzie Exercise 3 times a week for 4 weeks and control group (n=15) received McKenzie exercise 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Roland Morris Low Back Pain and Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) were used to evaluate functional status before and after intervention.

Results: The improvement of RMDQ score was greater in intervention group receiving Kinesio Taping and McKenzie (90.44 ± 9.58) than the control group (67.99 ± 7.84). There was a significant different for RMDQ score in intervention group compared with control group (p=0,000).

Conclusion: In this study, the functional status in patients with chronic mechanical low back pain who received kinesio taping with McKenzie exercise was better than those received McKenzie only.

Keywords: low back pain, kinesio taping, McKenzie exercise, functional status