Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Nov;47(11):1346-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2010.03.007. Epub 2010 May 11.

Home-based deep breathing for depression in patients with coronary heart disease: a randomised controlled trial

Li-Jung Chung  1 , Pei-Shan Tsai, Bing-Yi Liu, Kuei-Ru Chou, Wei-Hsiang Lin, Yuh-Kae Shyu, Mei-Yeh Wang
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Home-based deep breathing for depression in patients with coronary heart disease: a randomised controlled trial

Li-Jung Chung et al. Int J Nurs Stud. 2010 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of a home-based deep-breathing training programme on depressive symptoms as compared with a control condition (i.e., weekly telephone support) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

Design: This efficacy trial used a randomised controlled, parallel group design.

Participants and methods: A total of 62 CHD patients with a Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) >10 were randomised to receive either home-based deep-breathing training (experimental group, n=28) or weekly telephone support (control group, n=34). Both participants and data assessors were blinded to the study hypothesis. The primary outcome measure was the change in the self-reported depressive symptom severity, measured by the BDI-II. The secondary outcome was the change in the Patient Health Questionnaure-9 (PHQ-9)-assessed depressive symptom severity. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and post-test in both groups. For the experimental group, depressive symptoms were also assessed at the end of the first 2 weeks of training.

Results: The post-test BDI-II and PHQ-9 were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). The decreases in BDI-II, from baseline, at post-test were significantly greater in the experimental group as compared with the control group (95% confidence interval (CI): -12.554 to -5.408, p<0.001). Similarly, the pre-test-to-post-test change in PHQ-9 scores was significantly greater in the experimental group as compared with the control group (95% CI: -5.59 to -0.092, p=0.007). Examining the changes in BDI-II and PHQ-9 within the experimental group by the repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that both measures of depressive symptoms decreased significantly over time (both p<0.001). The percentage of participants with a BDI-II >or=17 decreased over time from 28.6% at baseline, and 17.9% during treatment, to 10.7% post-test.

Conclusions: Home-based deep-breathing training is effective in reducing depressive symptoms as compared with telephone support in patients with CHD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types