The effect of progressive muscle relaxation on dyspnea of asthmatic patients

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma is a disease with a complex challenging manner. Among chronic pulmonary diseases, asthma is the most common disease that has high prevalence and incidence and in spite of available drugs to control its symptoms, morbidity and mortality due to asthma have increased. Asthmatic attacks and anxiety often have some interactions. The relaxation techniques can help the patients decrease their anxiety. Therefore, anxiety and distress in asthmatic patients can be decreased by relaxation.

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study. The samples in this study included 26 patients randomly divided into two groups as study group and control group. Relaxation was trained to study group and it continued for four weeks, twice per day. Dyspnea was measured by visual analog scale in both groups and then, the two groups were compared. Statistical analysis was carried out with paired t-test and t test in SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that maximum, minimum and the extent of dyspnea in study group was significantly decreased in comparison with control group. There was no significant relation between the decrease in dyspnea the extent and the demographic data.

Conclusion: Based on the research findings, health care workers are recommended to apply relaxation training for asthmatic patients.