Summary:
Objective: It is well-established that one of the components of asthma is
stress. Stress may work as a direct trigger or as a precipitating factor in the
deterioration of asthma. The main aim of this study is to investigate the
effect of stress management techniques on asthma control, quality of life
(asthma symptoms, sleep satisfaction, physical activity), perceived stress and
health locus of control.
Material-Methods: In this randomized control trial, adult outpatient
asthmatics, suffering from mild to severe asthma (19% completely controlled,
54,8% partly controlled and 26.2% not controlled), were receiving stable
pharmaceutical care for more than one month and randomized in two groups. In
the intervention group, an 8- week stress management program (relaxation
breathing (RB) and progressive muscle relaxation technique (PMR),
simultaneously with medication) was applied. The control group received only
medication. In the intervention group, three face to face sessions of
relaxation breathing training took place, by using biofeedback, in three weeks
(once a week). In the same group, relaxation techniques were administered in
the form of an audio CD and the patients were instructed to practice the guided
RB - PMR CD, twice a day for 8 weeks, at home.
Results: The assessed variables had statistical significant differences. After
8-week relaxation practice, patients in intervention group, had significant
increase in asthma control, decrease in perceived stress, development in their
health locus of control and improvement in their quality of life (asthma
symptoms, weekly exercise and sleep satisfaction).
Conclusions: The stress management techniques seemed to contribute positively
to perceived stress and asthma beliefs on health, leading to better control of
asthma and quality of life of the patient, when applied complementary to the
medication. More studies need to be performed in this direction, in order to
confirm this finding.
Keywords:
Asthma, Stress management, Asthma control, Quality of life, Symptoms
