Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious respiratory tract disease. The most common clinical manifestation of severe COVID-19 is acute respiratory failure. Respiratory rehabilitation can be a crucial part of treatment, but data lack for patients with COVID-19. This study investigates the effects of short-term respiratory rehabilitation (i.e., breathing exercises) on respiratory recovery among non-ICU hospitalised patients with COVID-19. Methods This was a quasi-experimental, pre-and post-test study. The study recruited 173 patients hospitalised with moderate to severe COVID-19. All the patients received standardised care for COVID-19, and 94 patients in the intervention group also received the intervention of breathing exercises, which included breathing control, followed by diaphragmatic breathing, deep breathing, or thoracic expansion exercise, and huffing (forced expiratory technique) and coughing. Data on the mean values of peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), need for oxygen therapy (litre/min), respiratory rate (breaths/minute), and heart rate (beats/minute) and were collected at baseline, 4 days, and 7 days after the baseline assessment. Analysis of variance on repeated measures was applied to compare the mean value of outcome measures of all the time points. Results The mean (± SD) age of the intervention (69.6% men) and control group (62.1% men) were 50.1 (10.5) and 51.5 (10.4) years, respectively. At 4-day of follow-up, SpO2 (96.6% ± 1.9 vs. 90.7% ± 1.8, P < 0.001), need for oxygen therapy (0.8 ± 2.6 vs. 2.3 ± 2.9, P < 0.001), respiratory rate (20.5 ± 2.3 vs. 22.3 ± 2.5, P < 0.001), and heart rate (81.2 ± 9.5 vs. 89.2 ± 8.9, P < 0.001) improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. At 7-day follow-up, differences remained significant concerning the oxygen saturation and the need for oxygen therapy (P < 0.001) between the groups. Conclusions Our results indicate that breathing exercise, even for a short period, effectively improves specific respiratory parameters in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. As a non-invasive and cost-effective respiratory rehabilitation intervention, breathing exercise can be a valuable tool for a health care system overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These results should be considered preliminary until they are replicated in larger samples in different settings.

Background:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious respiratory tract disease. The most common clinical manifestation of severe COVID-19 is acute respiratory failure. Respiratory rehabilitation can be a crucial part of treatment but data lack for patients with COVID-19. This study investigates the effects of short-term respiratory rehabilitation (i.e., breathing exercises) on respiratory recovery among hospitalised patients with COVID-19. Methods: This quasi-experimental, pre-post-test study recruited 110 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. All patented received standardised care, and 65 patients also received the intervention (i.e., breathing exercises). Data on peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate (breaths/minute) and heart rate (beats/minute) and oxygen therapy requirement (litre/min) were collected at baseline and 4-5 days after the baseline assessment. Analysis of variance on repeated measures was applied to compare the outcomes of two-time points. Results: The mean (±Standard deviation, SD) age of the intervention group was 49.5 (±10.4) years and 73.8% were men. The mean (±SD) age of the control group was 49.3 (±7.9) years and 62.2% were men. After 4-5 days of respiratory rehabilitation SpO2 (96.7% ±2.1 vs 90.4% ±1.5), P<0.01), respiratory rate (20.5 ±2.4 vs 23.0 ±2.2) breaths/minute, P<0.01), heart rate (80.5 ±9.2 vs 91.2 ±8.6) beats/minute, P<0.01), and oxygen therapy requirement (0.4 ±0.98 vs 1.4 ±2.0) litre/min, P<0.01) improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. The mean days of hospitalisation for the intervention group and the control group were 7.1 days vs. 14.6 days, respectively. Conclusions:Our results indicate that breathing exercise, even for a short period, is effective in improving certain respiratory parameters in patients with COVID-19. As a non-invasive and cost-effective respiratory rehabilitation intervention, breathing exercise can be a useful tool for a health care system overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These results should be considered preliminary until they are replicated in larger samples in different settings.

Background:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious respiratory tract disease. The most common clinical manifestation of severe COVID-19 is acute respiratory failure. Respiratory rehabilitation can be a crucial part of treatment but data lack for patients with COVID-19. This study investigates the effects of short-term respiratory rehabilitation (i.e., breathing exercises) on respiratory recovery among hospitalised patients with COVID-19. Methods: This quasi-experimental, pre-post-test study recruited 110 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. All patented received standardised care, and 65 patients also received the intervention (i.e., breathing exercises). Data on peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate (breaths/minute) and heart rate (beats/minute) and oxygen therapy requirement (litre/min) were collected at baseline and 4-5 days after the baseline assessment. Analysis of variance on repeated measures was applied to compare the outcomes of two-time points. Results: The mean (±Standard deviation, SD) age of the intervention group was 49.5 (±10.4) years and 73.8% were men. The mean (±SD) age of the control group was 49.3 (±7.9) years and 62.2% were men. After 4-5 days of respiratory rehabilitation SpO2 (96.7% ±2.1 vs 90.4% ±1.5), P<0.01), respiratory rate (20.5 ±2.4 vs 23.0 ±2.2) breaths/minute, P<0.01), heart rate (80.5 ±9.2 vs 91.2 ±8.6) beats/minute, P<0.01), and oxygen therapy requirement (0.4 ±0.98 vs 1.4 ±2.0) litre/min, P<0.01) improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. The mean days of hospitalisation for the intervention group and the control group were 7.1 days vs. 14.6 days, respectively. Conclusions:Our results indicate that breathing exercise, even for a short period, is effective in improving certain respiratory parameters in patients with COVID-19. As a non-invasive and cost-effective respiratory rehabilitation intervention, breathing exercise can be a useful tool for a health care system overwhelmed by COVID-19 pandemic. These results should be considered preliminary until they are replicated in larger samples in different settings.