Breathing exercises for asthma: a randomised controlled trial
Thomas, M, McKinley, R.K., Mellor, S., Watkinson, G., Holloway, E., Scullion, J., Shaw, D.E., Wardlaw, A., Price, D. and Pavord, I. (2009) Breathing exercises for asthma: a randomised controlled trial. Thorax, 64, 55-61. (doi:10.1136/thx.2008.100867). (PMID:19052047).
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Description/Abstract
Background: The effect of breathing modification techniques on asthma symptoms and objective disease control is uncertain.
Methods: A prospective, parallel group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial comparing breathing training with asthma education (to control for non-specific effects of clinician attention) was performed. Subjects with asthma with impaired health status managed in primary care were randomised to receive three sessions of either physiotherapist-supervised breathing training (n = 94) or asthma nurse-delivered asthma education (n = 89). The main outcome was Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) score, with secondary outcomes including spirometry, bronchial hyper-responsiveness, exhaled nitric oxide, induced sputum eosinophil count and Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) and hyperventilation (Nijmegen) questionnaire scores.
Results: One month after the intervention there were similar improvements in AQLQ scores from baseline in both groups but at 6 months there was a significant between-group difference favouring breathing training (0.38 units, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.68). At the 6-month assessment there were significant between-group differences favouring breathing training in HAD anxiety (1.1, 95% CI 0.2 to 1.9), HAD depression (0.8, 95% CI 0.1 to 1.4) and Nijmegen (3.2, 95% CI 1.0 to 5.4) scores, with trends to improved ACQ (0.2, 95% CI 0.0 to 0.4). No significant between-group differences were seen at 1 month. Breathing training was not associated with significant changes in airways physiology, inflammation or hyper-responsiveness.
Conclusion: Breathing training resulted in improvements in asthma-specific health status and other patient-centred measures but not in asthma pathophysiology. Such exercises may help patients whose quality of life is impaired by asthma, but they are unlikely to reduce the need for anti-inflammatory medication.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| ISSNs: | 0040-6376 (print) |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Primary Care and Population Sciences |
| Item ID: | 337232 |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2012 08:43 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jul 2012 04:23 |
| Contributors: | Thomas, M (Author) McKinley, R.K. (Author) Mellor, S. (Author) Watkinson, G. (Author) Holloway, E. (Author) Scullion, J. (Author) Shaw, D.E. (Author) Wardlaw, A. (Author) Price, D. (Author) Pavord, I. (Author) |
| Date: | January 2009 |
| Status: | Published |
| URI: | http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/337232 |
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