None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Increased ventilation during exercise has been proposed to induce osmotic (Hallstrand et al., 2005) and thermal (Tan and Spector, 2002) changes in the airways during and after exercise, resulting in airway narrowing in susceptible people with asthma. Previous study showed that Acu-TENS could alleviate the post exericse bronchoconstriction in people with asthma (Ngai et al., 2009). Thus, the main aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Acu-TENS, when compared with ventolin, on alleviating the level of bronchoconstriction after Eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH), a diagnostic test for exercise induced bronchoconstriction. People with asthma who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be recruited. After informed consent, each participant will attend 4 visits to the laboratory. On each visit, participants will perform one EVH test. On the second to fourth visit, participants will receive one of the following intervention protocols: 1) Acu-TENS and placebo ventolin, 2) Placebo-TENS and placebo ventolin; 3) Placebo-TENS and ventolin, in a random order generated by a computer randomisation software, before the EVH test. The intervention will be applied by an investigator who is not involved in data collection. Both assessor and patients will be blinded to the intervention protocol. The change in FEV1 before and after EVH test obtained in each of the 4 visits will be compared. The findings of the study will elucidate whether or not Acu-TENS could alleviate exercise induced bronchoconstriction when compared with ventolin.
Interventions
This is a randomised crossover study.
Participants will attend for 4 visits, weekly apart. In the first visit, participants characteristics will be measured and they will perform a Eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) test.
On visits 2 to 4, participants will receive one the following interventions, in a random order, before undergoing the EVH test:
1) Acu-TENS and placebo ventolin
2) Placebo-TENS and placebo ventolin
3) Placebo-TENS and ventolin
Intervention:
Acu-TENS refers to the app
This is a randomised crossover study. Participants will attend for 4 visits, weekly apart. In the first visit, participants characteristics will be measured and they will perform a Eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) test. On visits 2 to 4, participants will receive one the following interventions, in a random order, before undergoing the EVH test: 1) Acu-TENS and placebo ventolin 2) Placebo-TENS and placebo ventolin 3) Placebo-TENS and ventolin Intervention: Acu-TENS refers to the application of Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) onto acupoints for reducing breathlessness, i.e. EX-B1, Dingchuan, located on the lower border of 7th Cervical Vertebrae. The intervention will last for 45 minutes. Ten minutes before the end of the Acu-TENS session, participants will receive 2 puffs of placebo-ventolin. Placebo TENS is similar to Acu-TENS with the application of the TENS onto EX-B1 except the machine was disconnected inside such that there is no electrical output despite the machine screen is still activated. Placebo TENS will be applied for 45 minutes. Ten minutes before the end of the intervention, participants will be asked to use 2 puffs of ventolin or placebo-ventolin (depending on the group allocation).
Sponsors
A/Prof Jennifer Alison
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Crossover
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Patients diagnosed with asthma, with FEV1 % predicted >75%
Exclusion criteria
Recent upper respiratory tract infection 4 weeks prior to the test.
Outcome results
None listed