The effect of breathing exercise on daytime sleepiness and fatigue of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

This research was conducted as a randomized, controlled and experimental study to examine the effect of breathing exercise on daytime sleepiness and fatigue among patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The study was conducted with patients diagnosed with OSAS who applied to the chest diseases outpatient clinic of a university hospital between 22 January and 26 May 2021. While the population of the study consisted of all patients with OSAS who applied to the related outpatient clinic, the sample consisted of patients who met the inclusion criteria. Approval from the ethics committee, permission from institution and consent from patients were obtained before the study. The patients included in the study were divided into intervention (n=30) and control (n=30) groups with the help of a program. The first application was made by teaching exercises including diaphragmatic and pursed lip breathing to the patients in the intervention group through face-to-face interview technique. Then, the researcher applied breathing exercises to the patients in this group through the online interview method for 10-15 minutes and a total of 20-30 minutes each morning/evening for eight weeks. The data were collected using the Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS). ESS is scored as 0-3 and a high score signifies daytime sleepiness. In the PFS with four subscales, total score ranges between 0 and 10 and as the score increases, the fatigue level also increases. The Questionnaire, ESS and PFS were applied to both groups at the beginning of the study and ESS and PFS were applied to them again at the end of the fourth and eighth weeks. Chi-square, Student t and Mann Whitney U, Paired Sample t and ANOVA tests were used in the data assessment. PFS total mean score of the patients in the intervention group, which was 6.15±1.65 before the application, decreased to 5.66±1.92 at the fourth week and 5.34±1.94 at the eighth week. In the control group, PFS total mean score, which was 5.59±1.76 before the application, increased to 5.72±1.81 at the fourth week and 5.77±1.81 at the eighth week. While ESS mean score of the intervention group which was 12.13±4.34 at the beginning, decreased to 9.83±4.7 at the fourth week and 9.13±4.71 at the eighth week, ESS mean score of the control group, which was 10.37±2.77 at the beginning, increased to 10.4±2.79 at the fourth week and 10.5±2.85 at the eighth week. However, it was concluded that the group-time interaction of the breathing exercise was significant and this was caused by the intervention group. Accordingly, it is thought that the breathing exercise applied to OSAS patients can be administered together with primary treatment.