Device-guided slow-paced respiration for menopausal hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of device-guided slow-paced respiration for reducing the frequency and severity of menopausal hot flushes.


METHODS
Perimenopausal or postmenopausal women reporting four or more hot flushes per day were recruited into a parallel-group, randomized trial of slow-paced respiration using a portable guided-breathing device. Women were randomly assigned to use a standard device to practice slowing their resting breathing rate to less than 10 breaths per minute for at least 15 minutes everyday or use an identical-appearing control device programmed to play relaxing nonrhythmic music while monitoring spontaneous breathing. The primary outcome, change in hot flush frequency over 12 weeks, was assessed using data from validated 7-day diaries abstracted by blinded analysts.


RESULTS
Among the 123 participants, mean age was 53.4 (±3.4) years. Women reported an average of 8.5 (±3.5) hot flushes per day at baseline. After 12 weeks, women randomized to paced respiration (n=61) reported an average reduction of 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9-2.6) hot flushes per day (-21%) compared with 3.0 (95% CI 2.1-3.8) hot flushes per day (-35%) in the music-listening group (n=62) (P=.048). Paced respiration was associated with a 19% decrease in frequency of moderate-to-severe hot flushes compared with a 44% decrease with music listening (P=.02).


CONCLUSIONS
In this randomized trial, women assigned to device-guided slow-paced respiration reported modest improvements in the frequency and severity of their hot flushes, but the paced respiration intervention was significantly less effective than a music-listening intervention in decreasing the frequency and severity of these symptoms.


METHODS
I.
Departments of Medicine, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; and Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois.
Alison J
AJ
Huang
Sara
S
Phillips
Michael
M
Schembri
Eric
E
Vittinghoff
Deborah
D
Grady
D000328:Adult; D001945:Breathing Exercises / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012064:Relaxation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012119:Respiration