Investigation of acute effects of controlled slow breathing in the morning and in the evening as an add-on therapy for patients with somatoform disorder / somatic stress disorder

Investigation of acute effects of controlled slow breathing in the morning and in the evening as an add-on therapy for patients with somatoform disorder / somatic stress disorder - ATEM-SOMA

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00027323

Enrollment

Registered

2021-11-30

Start date

2022-01-10

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

F45 F32

Interventions

Group 1: Morning breathing training (Monday to Friday between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.): 15 minutes of breathing training based on the personal resonant breathing frequency with the help of dynamic room brig

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 70 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: - One of the following ICD-10 diagnoses is present: F32.01, F32.11, F33.01, F33.11, F43.2 or F45.0 to F45.9 (psychological comorbidities are allowed) - between 18-70 years of age - Very good language skills in: German, Turkish or Serbo-Croatian

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: - the presence of dementia - acute suicidality - acute, untreated psychotic symptoms - the presence of an acute infectious or other internal illness which interferes with the performance of breathing exercises - if the inpatient treatment is discontinued

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
(1) The morning breathing training increases physical well-being (measured with 2 scales of the questionnaire on current well-being) both when training for the first time (on Monday) and on the 5th training day (on Friday of the same week) compared to the control intervention. (2) The evening breathing training reduces the cognitive and somatic arousal immediately before going to bed (measured with the Presleep-Arousal Scale) both when training for the first time (on Monday) and on the 5th training day (on Friday of the same week) compared to the control intervention. (3) The morning breathing training shows no side effects after the 5th training days (on Friday morning) (measured by self-assessment using 13 items). (4) The evening breathing training showed no side effects after the 5th training days (on Friday evening) (measured by self-assessment using 13 items).	—

Measure

Time frame

(1) The morning breathing training increases physical well-being (measured with 2 scales of the questionnaire on current well-being) both when training for the first time (on Monday) and on the 5th training day (on Friday of the same week) compared to the control intervention. (2) The evening breathing training reduces the cognitive and somatic arousal immediately before going to bed (measured with the Presleep-Arousal Scale) both when training for the first time (on Monday) and on the 5th training day (on Friday of the same week) compared to the control intervention. (3) The morning breathing training shows no side effects after the 5th training days (on Friday morning) (measured by self-assessment using 13 items). (4) The evening breathing training showed no side effects after the 5th training days (on Friday evening) (measured by self-assessment using 13 items).

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
(1) The breathing training improves sleep quality (measured with the Insomia Severity Index, ISI) on the 5th training day compared to the control intervention. (2) The breathing training improves the self-assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and somatization (measured with the Brief Symptom Scale, BSI-18) on the 5th training day compared to the control intervention. (3) Morning respiratory training increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and reduces the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (measured with the heart rate variability parameters heart rate, pNN50, RMSSD, SDNN, SD1, SD2, high frequency%, low frequency%, low frequency: high frequency) both when training for the first time on Monday morning and on the 5th training day (Friday morning) compared to the control intervention. (4) The evening breathing training reduces the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and increases the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (measured with the heart rate variability parameters heart rate, pNN50, RMSSD, SDNN, SD1, SD2, high frequency%, low frequency%, low frequency: high frequency) both when training for the first time on Monday evening and on the 5th training day (Friday evening) compared to the control intervention. (5) The patients are more satisfied with the morning breathing training on the 5th training day (Friday morning) (measured using self-assessment, 2 items) than with the morning control condition. (6) The patients are more satisfied with the evening breathing training on the 5th training day (Friday evening) (measured using self-disclosure, 2 items) than with the evening control condition.	—

Measure

Time frame

(1) The breathing training improves sleep quality (measured with the Insomia Severity Index, ISI) on the 5th training day compared to the control intervention. (2) The breathing training improves the self-assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and somatization (measured with the Brief Symptom Scale, BSI-18) on the 5th training day compared to the control intervention. (3) Morning respiratory training increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and reduces the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (measured with the heart rate variability parameters heart rate, pNN50, RMSSD, SDNN, SD1, SD2, high frequency%, low frequency%, low frequency: high frequency) both when training for the first time on Monday morning and on the 5th training day (Friday morning) compared to the control intervention. (4) The evening breathing training reduces the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and increases the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (measured with the heart rate variability parameters heart rate, pNN50, RMSSD, SDNN, SD1, SD2, high frequency%, low frequency%, low frequency: high frequency) both when training for the first time on Monday evening and on the 5th training day (Friday evening) compared to the control intervention. (5) The patients are more satisfied with the morning breathing training on the 5th training day (Friday morning) (measured using self-assessment, 2 items) than with the morning control condition. (6) The patients are more satisfied with the evening breathing training on the 5th training day (Friday evening) (measured using self-disclosure, 2 items) than with the evening control condition.

—

Countries

Austria

Contacts

Public ContactMarkus Canazei

Universität Innsbruck

markus.canazei@uibk.ac.at+43 512 507 56060

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026