The effect of breathing exercises on the fatigue levels of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aim: to assess the effect of breathing exercises on fatigue level of the patients with COPD. Methods: this quasi-experimental research was conducted on 60 COPD patients hospitalized at hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were randomized into "experience" and "control" groups. Data were gathered by interview and data registration from the files. The data gathering tools were questionnaires, fatigue severity scale (FSS) and respiratory exercise usage checklist. The data were analyzed using SPSS software with the descriptive and deductive statistical methods (Paired-T, Chi-Square and Pearson correlation tests). Results: the average fatigue severity before (55.766) and after (40.166) using the respiratory exercises in the experience group (p=0%) was significantly different. While in the control group (p=0.002) before (54.166) and after (52.200) the study has a slight difference. There was a significant inverse correlation between using respiratory exercises and fatigue severity (r=-0.593, p=0.001). Mean fatigue intensity for the experience and control groups decreased to 40.916±14.4 and 52.20±8.539 after the study, respectively (p=0.001). There was a significant difference in fatigue severity between experience and control groups after the study. Conclusion: respiratory exercise is effective in reducing the fatigue in the patients with COPD.

PMID: 21339543