Impact of Combined Corrective & Home Respiratory Exercises on Kyphosis Angle & Respiratory Capacity in Asthmatic Children

Asthma is a chronic disease causing morbidity and reduced quality of life. Asthmatics are less active than their peers, inducing a more sedentary lifestyle for the patient. Asthma can cause postural changes in the spine. Shoulder girdles are suitable options for their correction and prevention. Another possible solution is corrective breathing exercises. Hence, this study’s objective was to investigate and assess the impact of combined corrective and home respiratory exercises on kyphosis angle and respiratory capacity in asthmatic children.

The present study was a clinical trial with a pretest and posttest design. For this purpose, with the approval of a pediatric pulmonologist, 30 mildly asthmatic children living in Rasht were voluntarily included in the study. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups: experimental (15 individuals with a mean age of 10.53±2.09 years) and control (15 kids with a mean age of 11.40±2.13 years). Written informed consent forms were obtained from the children’s parents. Respectively, a flexible ruler, spirometry, and bone caliper were deployed to evaluate the curvature of the thoracic spine, respiratory capacity, and the chest’s anthropometric indices. To analyze the study’s results, a dependent t-test and analysis of covariance were utilized (significance level: P<0.05).

The findings revealed a significant difference between the thoracic spine curvature (P=0.004), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (P=0/001), (FEV1)/ forced vital sapacity (FVC) (P=0/02), and chest anthropometric indices (P=0.001).

In line with the findings, it appears that combined corrective and respiratory exercises can positively influence the chest’s extensor muscles inducing improvements in lung function and postural correction in asthmatic children. Therefore, it is hereby recommended that therapists, coaches, and exercise teachers utilize combined corrective and respiratory exercises to improve the physical, postural, and respiratory conditions of asthmatic children.