Objectives: The cardio-respiratory system is one of the systems affected by age. Exercises that focus on breathing are one of the exercises that complement the treatment of Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) patients, which have not received sufficient attention. Device-guided slow breathing is one of the most recent models of breathing exercises for these people. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of routine respiratory and gradual device-guided slow breathing exercises on the quality of life, physical functional performance, and blood pressure in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.
Methods & Materials: This study was a single-blind randomized clinical trial and was conducted in Mashhad in 2022–2023. In the study, 36 patients with chronic heart failure were randomized into three groups of 12 people by concealed envelope, including a control group with an average age of 64/58±3/46, a routine breathing exercise group with a mean age of 63/67±3/91, and a gradual device-guided slow breathing exercise group with an average age of 62/58±2/57 based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The intervention was done for 4 weeks, and evaluations were completed before and after the intervention. The quality of life of heart failure patients using the Minnesota questionnaire (MLWHF), physical performance using the six-minute walking test (6MWT), blood pressure using the blood pressure Holter were recorded. The SPSS23 program was used for data analysis, and paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used.
Results: Before the intervention, there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in terms of demographic variables (p>0.05). There were also no significant differences in blood hemodynamic parameters after the intervention (p>0.05). The average quality of life score following the intervention was statistically significant in the routine breathing exercise group (p = 0.02) and the gradual slow breathing exercise group (p = 0.007). The average physical functional performance score was similarly statistically significant following the intervention in the routine breathing exercise group (p = 0.028) and the gradual slow breathing exercise group (p = 0.033). The one-way ANOVA demonstrated statistically significant differences in the average quality of life score in the routine breathing exercise group (p = 0.026) and the average physical functional performance score in the gradual slow breathing exercise group (p = 0.042) compared to the control group.
Conclusions: Elderly people with Heart Failure, who frequently experience challenges in daily activities can improve their quality of life and physical performance with breathing exercises. It is advised that these exercises be used in the outpatient phase of cardiac rehabilitation in addition to the inpatient phase due to their low cost, simplicity, and availability.