Skip to content

Breathing Versus Aerobic Exercises on Asthma Control

Comparison Between Breathing and Aerobic Exercises on Clinical Control, Psychosocial Morbidity, Thoracoabdominal Kinematics, and Airway Inflammation in Patients With Moderate-to-severe Asthma: a Randomized Trial

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02065258
Enrollment
48
Registered
2014-02-17
Start date
2013-02-28
Completion date
2014-06-30
Last updated
2014-02-17

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

Conditions

Asthma

Keywords

Asthma, Clinical control, Exercise

Brief summary

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by reversible obstruction, inflammation and hyperresponsiveness to different stimulus. Aerobic and breathing exercises have been demonstrated to benefit asthmatic patients; however, there is no evidence comparing the effectiveness of the treatments. Objective: To compare the effects of aerobic and breathing exercises on clinical control (primary outcome), psychosocial morbidity and daily life physical activity (secondary outcome) in patients with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma. In addition, thoracoabdominal kinematics, heart rate variability and airway and systemic inflammation will be evaluated. The initial hypothesis will be that both exercises present improved clinical control of asthma. Methods: Forty-eight asthmatic adults will be randomly divided into 2 groups: aerobic (AG) and breathing exercises (BG). All treatments will be performed twice a week for 3 months, totalizing 24 sessions of 40 minutes each. Both groups will complete an educational program consisting of 2 classes at the beginning of the interventions. Before and after interventions, the following parameters will be quantified: clinical control, health related quality of life, levels of anxiety and depression, maximal exercise capacity, autonomic nervous imbalance, daily living physical activity, thoracoabdominal kinematics, inflammatory cells in the sputum, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) and systemic inflammatory cytokines. Asthma symptoms will be quantified monthly using diaries. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test will be used to analyze the data normality, and a two-way ANOVA with repeated measures with appropriate post hoc test (Student Newman Keuls) will be used to compare the inter and intra-groups differences

Detailed description

Both groups completed an educational program that consisted of two classes held once a week, each lasting 2 hours. Presentations and group discussions were done, including information about asthma pathophysiology, medication skills, self-monitoring techniques, and environmental control and avoidance strategies.

Interventions

OTHERBreathing exercise

It will be based on Yoga´s breathing technique (Eliade, 1996) and will be focus on to stimulate nasal and diaphragmatic breathings, to increase expiratory time, to slow respiratory flow and to regulate the breathing rhythm. Breathing exercises will be divided into 3 phases (lasting one month each) with progressive intensity every 8 sessions. All participants will be required to maintain their normal medical regimens during the interventions. Will be part of the routine of breathing exercises the following exercises: I) Kapalabhati, II) Uddhiyana

OTHERAerobic exercise

Exercise will be performed on a treadmill (Imbramed Export Plus, Brazil) with the initial intensity of 60% of the maximum predicted heart rate for patient´s age (Tanaka et al, 2001) reaching a maximal of 80% during the training. The intensity values will be calculated using Karvonen's formule (1957). Exercise intensity will be increased if the patient do not present any increase in asthma symptoms during the exercise for 2 consecutive training days. Before and after every session, patients will perform a peak expiratory flow test and if values were lower than 70% of the patient´s maximum value, they will be advised to use the rescue dose of bronchodilator prescribed the their physician

Sponsors

University of Sao Paulo
CollaboratorOTHER
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
CollaboratorOTHER_GOV
University of Sao Paulo General Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
25 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Asthma moderate and severe * Asthma will diagnosed (Global Initiative for Asthma -GINA) * Body Mass Index \<35 kg/ m2 * Sedentary * Medical treatment, for at least 6 months * Clinically stable

Exclusion criteria

* Smokers * Cardiac disease * Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease * Active Cancer * Pregnant

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from Clinical ControlAfter 3 months of intervetionClinical control will be evaluated by Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from psychosocial morbidityAfter 3 months of intervetionThe psychosocial morbidity will be quantified by health factors related to quality of life (Asthma quality of life questionnaire- AQLQ) and depression and anxiety levels (HAD score)
Change from Daily life physical activity (DLPA)After 3 months of intervetionDaily life physical activity will be assessed using an accelerometer (power Walker SW 610, Japan) that records the total daily number of steps and those performed at moderate intensity ( \>110 steps per minute)

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from Thoracoabdominal kinematicsAfter 3 months of interventionThoracoabdominal kinematics will be evaluated by using optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP system, BTS, Italy) as previously described Aliverti et al, 2006.
Change from Heart rate variabilityAfter 3 months of interventionsHeart rate variability will be assessed using heart rate variability (HRV) by a hert rate monitor ( Polar S810i, Finland) previously validated (Gamelin, Berthoin & Bosquet, 2006).
Change from Airway and systemic inflammationAfter 3 months of interventionsAirway inflammation will be quantified using the induced sputum , exhaled fraction of nitric oxide . Systemic inflammation will be evaluated by level of plasmatic inflammatory mediators Th1 ( IL-6, TNF) , Th2 (IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13) and anti-inflammatory ( IL-10 and IL-1ra)

Countries

Brazil

Contacts

Primary ContactCelso Carvalho, PhD
cscarval@usp.br+55 11 30697451

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 7, 2026