Effect of Breathing Exercise on Fatigue in Patients With Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a chronic, necrotic infectious disease with very different clinical appearances, caused by a group of mycobacteria defined as M. tuberculosis complex. Although there is a vaccine and can be treated with combined medications, this health problem remains important all over the world, especially in poor countries. Generally, respiratory symptoms that occur in a person with tuberculosis include cough, phlegm, hemoptysis, chest pain, and shortness of breath for more than three weeks. If there is a partial obstruction in the bronchi due to the compression of enlarged lymph nodes, it causes a whezing sound accompanied by shortness of breath. In tuberculosis, contagion is brought under control with effective treatment by regular use of drugs. In addition, the symptoms of the patients are relieved until they recover. However, the fatigue of the patients may continue. The disease may continue. In addition to having an effect, fatigue may also occur due to the side effects of many tuberculosis drugs. Therefore, patients experiencing fatigue while taking tuberculosis drugs may cause them to become uncooperative in drug use, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, serious complications and higher treatment costs. Another method used in addition to the treatment of chronic respiratory system diseases such as tuberculosis is pulmonary rehabilitation.Pulmonary rehabilitation consists of patient education, psychosocial support, aerobic and strengthening breathing exercises and physical training programs. Among the breathing exercises that are considered to be one of the important components of pulmonary rehabilitation, pursed-lip breathing and diaphragmatic breathing exercises are frequently used in chronic respiratory system diseases. However, no study has been found examining the effects of pursed-lip breathing and diaphragmatic breathing exercises on fatigue in tuberculosis patients. Pursed-lip breathing technique ensures maximum emptying of the alveoli by providing controlled expiration, thus helping to reduce the respiratory rate by increasing the activity of the inspiratory and expiratory muscles, increasing gas exchange and tidal volume. During diaphragmatic breathing exercise, since the diaphragm muscle is used instead of accessory muscles, the respiratory load decreases, thus the ventilation level of the lungs increases and breathing is supported. It has been reported in the literature that the deep breathing technique is effective in controlling the emotional states of tuberculosis patients, and that deep breathing exercises applied to pulmonary TB patients are effective in reducing the respiratory rate. However, since no study was found in the literature review that evaluated the effect of breathing exercise applied to TB patients on fatigue, this study was planned to examine the effect of breathing exercise applied to patients diagnosed with TB on fatigue.