title: The effect of breathing exercises on the fatigue levels of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to assess the effect of breathing exercises on fatigue level of the patients with COPD.
  
  
  METHODS
  this quasi-experimental research was conducted on 60 COPD patients hospitalized at hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were randomized into "experience" and "control" groups. Data were gathered by interview and data registration from the files. The data gathering tools were questionnaires, fatigue severity scale (FSS) and respiratory exercise usage checklist. The data were analyzed using SPSS software with the descriptive and deductive statistical methods (Paired-T, Chi-Square and Pearson correlation tests).
  
  
  RESULTS
  the average fatigue severity before (55.766) and after (40.166) using the respiratory exercises in the experience group (p=0%) was significantly different. While in the control group (p=0.002) before (54.166) and after (52.200) the study has a slight difference. There was a significant inverse correlation between using respiratory exercises and fatigue severity (r=-0.593, p=0.001). Mean fatigue intensity for the experience and control groups decreased to 40.916 ± 14.4 and 52.20 ± 8.539 after the study, respectively (p=0.001). There was a significant difference in fatigue severity between experience and control groups after the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  respiratory exercise is effective in reducing the fatigue in the patients with COPD.
authors.affiliation: Tehran University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, PO Box 14155-6447, zip code: 1417613151 Tehran, Iran. zakerimo@sina.tums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zakerimoghadam
authors.forename: Khadijeh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tavasoli
authors.forename: Anoushiravan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nejad
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khoshkesht
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001945:Breathing Exercises; D005221:Fatigue / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome