Effects of a relaxation breathing exercise on anxiety, depression, and leukocyte in hemopoietic stem cell transplantation patients

This study was performed to investigate the effects of a relaxation breathing exercise on anxiety, depression, and leukocyte count in patients who underwent allogenic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation. Thirty-five patients were randomly selected, with 18 assigned to an exercise group and 17 assigned to a control group. The exercise intervention was applied to the exercise group for 30 minutes every day for 6 weeks. It consisted of physical exercises combined with relaxation breathing. Anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. The total number of leukocytes was calculated from total and differential counts of peripheral white blood cells. The exercise group had a greater decrease in anxiety and depression than did the control group, but the total number of leukocytes did not significantly differ between the two groups. These findings indicate that a relaxation breathing exercise would improve anxiety and depression levels in patients who undergo allogenic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation, but would not affect the number of leukocytes.