1PhD Scholar, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Assam Down Town University, Guwahati, Assam 781026, India
2*Associate Professor, Faculty of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Assam Down Town University, Guwahati, Assam 781026, India
3Dean and Professor, Pratiksha Institute of Allied Health Sciences, Panikhaiti, Guwahati, Assam 781026, India
Introduction: All the systems of the body show deleterious changes due to age with respiratory system acting as no exception. Studies show that dyspnea in elderly population accounts for 17% to 25% and reduced exercise capacity for 30% in persons above 65 years of age. There is a dearth of researches to compare whether combining Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastic with diaphragmatic exercise shows any additional benefit in reducing dyspnea and increasing exercise capacity on relatively healthy geriatric population.
Aim: To compare the effect of Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastic with diaphragmatic exercise over diaphragmatic breathing exercise in reducing dyspnea and increasing the exercise capacity in geriatric population.
Materials and Methods: This pre and post experimental design is conducted in Guwahati, Assam for a duration of 4 weeks. 84 elderly persons whose showed mMRC scale ≥ 2 was taken. The patients were divided into two groups using systemic random sampling procedure. Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastic with diaphragmatic breathing exercise was given in one group and diaphragmatic exercise alone was given in another. The treatment was given for 4 weeks, 6 days a week and 3 times daily. 2 minutes' walk test and mMRC scale was used as outcome measures. The results were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25.0.
Conclusion: Both the groups were effective in reducing dyspnea and increasing exercise capacity. However between the two groups, the group that received combination of Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastic with diaphragmatic exercise showed more significant improvement.
Keywords: Exercise capacity, Dyspnea, Geriatric, Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastic, Diaphragmatic exercise.
How to cite this article: Bhattacharya U, Gogoi P, Bhattacharya U. Respiratory Muscle Stretch Gymnastic with Diaphragmatic Breathing on Dyspnea and Exercise Capacity in Older Adults: A Comparative Study. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(10s): 794-798; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.10s.94.
Source of support: Nil
Conflict of interest: None