Effects of Breathing Technique Training and Physical Activity Counseling on Quality of Life, Symptoms, Asthma Control, and Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents With Asthma: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Many children and adolescents with asthma have dysfunctional breathing, e.g. they use mainly upper chest muscles to breath and do not engage the diaphragma muscle when breathing. This can lead to a variety of breathin problems such as dizzyness, muscle tension, and limitations in ability to be physically active. As of today there is no guidelines for treatment or follow-up for these patients and there are very few well-perfomed studies evaluating if breathin retraining can improve breathing pattern.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of breathing training and advice on physical activity compared to only advice on physical activity in children and adolescents with asthma. The primary outcome is quality of life and secondary outcomes are dysfunctional breathing, asthma control, physical activity level and spirometry changes.

This randomized controlled trial.

Patients are identified at the paediatric lung clinic at Karolinska University Hospital, and patients aged 10-17 years who are reffered to see a physiotherapist for spirometry and exercise testing who have with asthma who have dysfunctional breathing are invited to participate.

Assessments include the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, Parent Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, The Paediatric Nijmegen Questionnaire assessing symtpoms associated to dysfunctional breathing, the Childhood Asthma control test or the adult asthma control test. These questionnaires as completed by patients with or without their parents depending on their age at baseline, and after 4 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks. At baseline and after 4 weeks an exercise tolerance test of 8 minutes performed on a treadmill and spirometry are performed.

Interventions:

Acitve intervention means diaphragmal breathing training 5 days a week for