Effects of Expiratory Muscle Training and Pursed-Lips Breathing on Health Status and Dyspnea among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

El Gamil, Aida; Mekkawy, Mimi M.; Ahmed., Khaled H.

doi:10.21608/asnj.2015.59025

Effects of Expiratory Muscle Training and Pursed-Lips Breathing on Health Status and Dyspnea among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt

² Assistant Professor, Department of Adult Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Assiut University, Egypt

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Chest , Faculty of Medicin, Assiut University, Egypt.

10.21608/asnj.2015.59025

Abstract

The aim was to examine the effectiveness of expiratory muscle training and pursed-lips breathing on health status and dyspnea among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A true experimental design was utilized. Setting: The study was carried out in the outpatient chest clinic at Assuit university hospital. Subjects: A purposeful sample of 127 diagnosed as COPD patients. They were randomly distributed to 4 subjects, classified into 3 study and one control group . Three tools : Tool 1: Structured interviewing questionnaire tool, Tool 11: ST George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Tool III: Assessment of the patients' condition includes the modified Borg scale and MRC breathlessness scale. Results: majority were male patients, more than 50 years old. There was significant improvement in total health status P= 0.001and shortness of breath among the study subjects than the control subjects’=0.01. Also, there was statistical significant improvement in the pulmonary function tests PEmax, PImax, paco2, Hco3 and Sao2in the study subjects than the control subjects’ P value (0.002, 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001) respectively. Conclusion: There was statistical significant improvement after implementation of the respiratory training in total health status score and Borg scale post Six Minute Walk Distance)6 MWD( among PLB and Both exercise subjects when compared with the EMT and control subjects after 8 weeks. Recommendation: Further researches is required to identify clearly the benefits of breathing exercises in breathless patients with COPD and treatments should be closely monitored for variations in response and modified accordingly.

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