Breathing Exercises
Conditions
Keywords
Relaxation therapy, Stress-management, Breathing exercise, Stress, Anxiety, Depression
Brief summary
Stress plays a major role in the etiology and pathogenesis of anxiety and depression. Relaxation therapies, such as breathing exercises, can reduce stress and increase relaxation. This study has two aims. First, it aims to personalize and optimize breathing protocols. Second, it aims to tailor breathing protocols to subgroups based on prediction models of expected efficacy. Three different breathing protocols, varying solely in their instructed breathing frequency with 40 percent (A), 60 percent (B), and 80 percent (C) of the interindividual spontaneous breathing frequency, are tested in a randomized, counterbalanced crossover trial. Other parameters, such as breathing quality (i.e., nasal and diaphragmatic), rhythm (i.e., prolonged exhalation without instructed pauses) and depth (i.e., increased depth due to slower breathing frequency) as well as contextual factors (e.g., posture, video-based instructions, type of pacer, etc.) are invariant between protocols. First, this study hypothesizes a difference in the relaxation response between breathing protocols A, B, and C. This study looks at the relaxation response from three different angles (1) self-report, (2) autonomic arousal, and (3) central nervous system arousal. Second, this study explores prediction models of expected efficacy based on the interindividual variance in characteristics (i.e., depressive, anxious and stress symptoms as well as expertise in relaxation therapies) and biomarkers (e.g., heart rate variability, peripheral temperature, skin conductance, etc.). Prediction models can tailor breathing protocols to subgroups to increase expected efficacy.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALBreathing Exercise
A breathing exercise is a relaxation technique (or therapy) to increase relaxation (induces a relaxation response) and decrease stress (reduces a stress response).
Sponsors
Technical University of Munich
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Above 18 years old * University student * Native German speaker
Exclusion criteria
* Any psychiatric (e.g., anxiety), neurologic (e.g., epilepsy) or cardio-pulmonary (e.g., asthma) diagnosis
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Relaxation Sum Score | Immediately after each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured with the German Version of the Relaxation State Questionnaire; Sum scores range from 10 to 50 (higher scores indicate greater relaxation). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Current Perceived Stress Level | Immediately after each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured on a visual analog scale ranging from 0 to 100, where zero is absolutely no stress and 100 is extreme stress. |
| Heart Rate Variability | During each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured via blood volume pulse with a finger clip on the middle finger |
| Peripheral Temperature | During each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured via temperature sensor on the small finger |
| Skin Conductance | During each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured via skin conductance sensor on the index and ring finger |
| Power in Frequency Bands | During each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured via four channel EEG with linked earlobe reference and active electrode placement on F3, F4, F7, and F8 according to the international 10-20 system |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Duration of Training in Relaxation Techniques (such as Breathing Exercises, Autogenic Training, Progressive Relaxation, etc.) | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Breathing Frequency | During the first questionnaire and video-based instructions before the baseline measurement, the 5-minute baseline measurement and during each 5-minute breathing exercise | Measured via chest strap sensor. This is not an outcome, it measures the participant's spontaneous breathing frequency and the compliance to the breathing protocols. |
| Stress, Anxiety and Depression Score of the Past Two Weeks | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Measured with the Depression-Anxiety-Stress-Scale Questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Average Volume of Training in Relaxation Techniques (such as Breathing Exercises, Autogenic Training, Progressive Relaxation, etc.) | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Number of Participants with Treatment-Related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v5.0 | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Difficulty with any of the Breathing Exercises | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Transferability of Breathing Exercises into Daily Life | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a questionnaire. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| One Word Description for Breathing Exercises | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with an open question. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
| Previous Training in Relaxation Techniques (such as Breathing Exercises, Autogenic Training, Progressive Relaxation, etc.) | Immidiately after the last breathing exercise | Assessed with a closed (Yes/No) question. This is not an outcome measure, this is a measure to build a prediction model for expected efficacy of breathing exercises. |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed