The Need for Breathing Training Techniques: The Elephant in the Heart Failure Cardiac Rehabilitation Room: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study designs: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial
Abstract: Background: Although solid evidence has indicated that respiratory symptoms are common amongst patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), state-of-the-art cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs do not typically include management strategies to address respiratory symptoms. This study investigated the effect of the addition of breathing exercises (BE) to the CR programs in CHF. Methods: In a two parallel-arm randomized controlled study (RCT), 40 middle-aged patients with CHF and respiratory symptoms were recruited and randomized into two equal groups (n = 20); group (A): standard CR with BE and group (B): standard CR alone. Primary outcomes were respiratory parameters and secondary outcomes included cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary outcomes. All the participants attended a program of aerobic exercise (three sessions/week, 60–75% MHR, 45–55 min) for 12 weeks, plus educational, nutritional, and psychological counseling. Group (A) patients attended the same program together with BE using inspiratory muscle training (IMT) and breathing calisthenics (BC) (six sessions/week, 15–25 min) for the same duration. Results: There was a significant improvement in the respiratory outcomes, and most of the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary outcomes in both groups with a greater change percentage in group A (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These results indicate that the addition of BE to the CR programs in CHF is effective and is a “patient-centered” approach.
Institutions: Cairo University, Queen's University Belfast, Wellcome Trust
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,618
OpenAlex ID: W4308877545