Comparison of Breathing Exercise for Hypertensive Patients

Effectiveness of Diaphragmatic Breathing vs. Slow Breathing Techniques on Blood Pressure and Health-related Quality of Life in Adults With Stage 1 Hypertension

To determine the Effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing vs. slow breathing techniques on blood pressure and Quality of life in adults with stage 1 hypertension. In accessible literature limited data was found on the comparison of different breathing techniques. The current study will compare the effect of slow vs. diaphragmatic breathing exercises and will demonstrate which one is more effective.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hypertension
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Slow breathing exercise group; Other: Diaphragmatic breathing exercise group

Detailed Description

Literature reports that inspiratory muscle training is more effective in reducing Blood Pressure and voluntary diaphragmatic breathing at 10 or 6 breaths per minute for 10 min twice a day for 4 weeks is effective in producing positive outcomes in hypertensive patients.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 32
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Pakistan
  • KPK
    • Swāt, KPK, Pakistan, 19200
      • Zakir khan shaheed hospital matta

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 30 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient having stage 1 hypertension, Diagnosed after 1 week BP charting

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients taking antihypertensive medication Patient having comorbidities Smokers and women taking oral contraceptives

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Slow breathing exercise group; Slow breathing 5-6 breaths/minute, 3 sets of 5 minutes 2 times/day for 4 weeks.	Other: Slow breathing exercise group; The patient will be first asked to close one nostril with a thumb and slowly breathe in completely through the other for 6 seconds. This nostril will be then closed and the patient will exhale through the other nostril over a period of 6 seconds. These steps complete one breathing cycle. An attempt will be made to keep the breathing rate is about 5-6 breaths per minute. Such alternate nostril breathing cycles will be repeated continuously for a period of about 15 minutes (3 sets of 5 minutes) in one sitting.
Experimental: Diaphragmatic breathing exercise group; Diaphragmatic breathing, 3 sets of 5 minutes 2 times/day for 4 weeks.	Other: Diaphragmatic breathing exercise group; Patients would be instructed to Sit or lie down in a comfortable place and put their hands on their belly. Relax the muscles in their neck and shoulders. Breathe in slowly through the nose, keeping their mouth closed. Feel the lungs fill with air and inflate like a balloon while their belly moves outward. Such breathing cycles will be repeated continuously for a period of about 15 (3 sets of 5 minutes) minutes in one sitting.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Blood Pressure	Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). A blood pressure measurement has two numbers: The top number (systolic) is the pressure of the blood flow when your heart muscle contracts, pumping blood. The bottom number (diastolic) is the pressure measured between heartbeats. The patients are classified according to the range as follows. Hypertension stage 1 SYSTOLIC (mm of Hg): 121-139 DIASTOLIC (mm of Hg): 81-89	4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Health related Quality of life	Measured through EuroQOL-five-dimensional-three-level (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire which comprises the following five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has 3 levels: no problems, some problems, and extreme problems.	4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Riphah International University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, Zhang H, Duan NY, Shi YT, Wei GX, Li YF. The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Front Psychol. 2017 Jun 6;8:874. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874. eCollection 2017.
• Jones CU, Sangthong B, Pachirat O, Jones DA. Slow breathing training reduces resting blood pressure and the pressure responses to exercise. Physiol Res. 2015;64(5):673-82. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.932950. Epub 2015 Mar 24.
• Janet SK, Mangala Gowri P. Effectiveness of deep breathing exercise on blood pressure among patients with hypertension. Int J Pharma Bio Sci 2017; 8(1):B256-60.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 15, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 15, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): March 15, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 13, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 13, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 15, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 16, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 15, 2022
• Last Verified: September 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Quality of life; Diaphragmatic breathing; Slow breathing; Stage 1 hypertension
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders; Hypertension; Respiratory Aspiration
• Other Study ID Numbers: Rec/01091 Kamran khan

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No