• Marie Carmen Valenza, Geraldine Valenza-Peña, Irene Torres-Sánchez, Emilio González-Jiménez, Alicia Conde-Valero, and Gerald Valenza-Demet.
• Physical Therapy Department.
• Respir Care. 2014 Feb 1;59(2):209-15.

BackgroundAnxiety and depression are prevalent comorbidities in patients with COPD. Breathing techniques can improve anxiety and depression in patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation.MethodsWe conducted a randomized clinical study with 46 male subjects, 67-86 years old, hospitalized with acute COPD exacerbation. Subjects were randomly and equally divided into a control group and a controlled breathing intervention group. We measured baseline and post-intervention dyspnea, anxiety and depression, quality of life (with the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire and the European Quality of Life questionnaire), maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressure, hand-grip strength, and sleep quality. The cohort had high dyspnea and low overall quality of life.ResultsControlled breathing techniques significantly improved dyspnea, anxiety, and mobility. All the measured variables improved in the intervention group. The control group had poorer values in all the variables after the hospitalization period.ConclusionsControlled breathing exercises improve anxiety and depression in patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01826682).

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