Breathing Exercises in Asthma During Pregnancy
Condition: Asthma in Pregnancy
MeSH terms: Asthma
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aim of this research is to determine the effects of breathing exercises on asthmatic
      pregnant females. A randomized controlled trial will be done for which the calculated sample
      size is 24. Non probability purposive sampling technique will be used and the subjects will
      be randomly divided in two groups, with one group undergoing pharmacological management where
      as breathing exercises will be provided to the other group. Lung volumes and capacities as
      well as quality of life will be assessed through questionnaire in order to determine the
      effect of breathing exercises in patients with asthma.
    

Detailed description: 
      Asthma is defined as chronic inflammatory condition of airways, characterized by periodic
      episodes of wheezing, cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath and which are often worse
      at night. This causes hyper-responsiveness of airways and flow of air obstruction leading to
      breathing difficulty. Asthma in pregnancy is a common risk factor for fetal and maternal
      complications. Asthma also effects outcomes of pregnancy and pregnancy affects asthma
      severity which has being currently being examined.

      Approximately 50% of asthmatic pregnant females 25 percent experience a worsening of asthma
      control at some stage during pregnancy, and most of them take corticosteroids for the
      management of acute and chronic exacerbation. Pathogenesis of asthma during pregnancy is
      entirely related to the physiological and pathological changes .Uterine enlargement causes
      hormonal changes during pregnancy directly or indirectly Asthmatic women have an increased
      ratio of associated co-morbidities which have direct effect on it where by increasing risk of
      perinatal outcomes. Pregnancy associated with asthma affects women in many ways. Hormonal
      imbalances occurring during pregnancy affects lungs as well as sinuses. Increased estrogen
      causes nasal congestion during the 3rd trimester. A rise in progesterone may cause a feeling
      of shortness of breath. Its important to identify or diagnose asthma being a major cause of
      shortness of breath during pregnancy. Breathing exercises includes nasal breathing,
      diaphragmatic breathing, deep pursed lip breathing. They have beneficial effects, such as
      betterment in health related (QOL)quality of life ,decreasing anxiety ,depression, improving
      asthma symptoms, the treatment using relief medication, occurrence of exacerbations, and
      hyperresponsiveness of airways.

      Global Initiative for Asthma(GINA GUIDELINES 2019)illustrated that non pharmacological
      management such as patient's education, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques can be
      used as an adjunct to asthma pharmacotherapy. Breathing exercises includes nasal breathing,
      diaphragmatic breathing, deep pursed lip breathing. They have beneficial effects, such as
      betterment in health related (QOL)quality of life, decreasing anxiety ,depression, improving
      asthma symptoms, the treatment using relief medication, occurrence of exacerbations, and
      hyperresponsiveness of airways in patients with asthma. Literature reviewed from different
      search engines shows that there are limited studies available regarding non pharmacological
      management of asthma during pregnancy so Current study is planned to assess if non
      pharmacological management such as breathing exercise techniques will help improve asthma
      symptoms exacerbation as well as quality of life following regular plan of exercises and
      relaxation techniques collectively.
    

Intervention name(s): Breathing exercises
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Breathing exercises as well as Buteyko technique and Papworth relaxation method was performed as relaxation technique. All exercises were performed 15rep 3 sets for 15 min.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Asthma; Forced Expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1); Forced Vital capacity (FVC); Peak Expiratory flow rate; Pregnancy; Quality of life