Therapeutic Effects of Slow Deep Breathing on Cardiopulmonary Function, Physical Performance, Biochemical Parameters, and Stress in Older Adult Patients with Long COVID in Phayao, Thailand

Fig. 1.. Comparison of the therapeutic effect of slow deep breathing on cardiovascular parameters in the control group (n=30) and exercise group (n=30): (A) systolic blood pressure (SBP), (B) diastolic blood pressure (DBP), (C) pulse pressure (PP), (D) mean arterial pressure (MAP), (E) heart rate (HR), (F) standard deviations of all normal to normal (NN) intervals (SDNN), (G) square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals (RMSSD), (H) low frequency (LF), (I) high frequency (HF), and (J) LF/HF ratio at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Values are presented as mean±standard deviation. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze group, time, and interaction effects. The Bonferroni test was used to compare baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks within the group: #p<0.05, ##p<0.01, ###p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 4 weeks); †p<0.05, ††p<0.01, †††p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 8 weeks); ‡‡‡p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (4 weeks vs. 8 weeks).

Fig. 2.. Comparison of the therapeutic effect of slow deep breathing on respiratory muscle strength and pulmonary function in the control group (n=30) and exercise group (n=30): (A) maximal inspiratory pressure at functional residual capacity (PImaxFRC), (B) maximal inspiratory pressure at residual volume (PImaxRV), (C) maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax), (D) forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), (E) forced vital capacity (FVC), (F) FEV1/FVC ratio, (G) peak expiratory flow (PEF), and (H) forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75%) at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Values are presented as mean±standard deviation. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze group, time, and interaction effects. The Bonferroni test was used to compare baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks within the group: #p<0.05, ##p<0.01 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 4 weeks); †p<0.05, ††p<0.01, †††p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 8 weeks); ‡p<0.05, ‡‡p<0.01 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (4 weeks vs. 8 weeks).

Fig. 3.. Comparison of the therapeutic effects of slow deep breathing on physical performance and stress in the control group (n=30) and exercise group (n=30): (A) trunk flexibility, (B) leg strength, (C) back strength, (D) six-minute walk test (6MWT), (E) stress resistance, (F) stress index, and (G) fatigue index at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Values are presented as mean±standard deviation. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze group, time, and interaction effects. The Bonferroni test was used to compare baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks within the group: #p<0.05, ###p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 4 weeks); †p<0.05, ††p<0.01, †††p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 8 weeks); ‡p<0.05 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (4 weeks vs. 8 weeks).

Fig. 4.. Comparison of the therapeutic effects of slow deep breathing on biochemical parameters in the control group (n=30) and exercise group (n=30): (A) fasting blood sugar (FBS), (B) total cholesterol (TC), (C) triglyceride (TG), (D) high-density lipoprotein (HDL), (E) low-density lipoprotein (LDL), (F) catalase (CAT), (G) glutathione (GSH), (H) superoxide dismutase (SOD), and (I) malondialdehyde (MDA) at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Values are presented as mean±standard deviation. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze group, time, and interaction effects. The Bonferroni test was used to compare baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks within the group: ##p<0.01 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 4 weeks); †p<0.05, †††p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (baseline vs. 8 weeks); ‡p<0.05, ‡‡p<0.01, ‡‡‡p<0.001 for within-group comparisons in the exercise group (4 weeks vs. 8 weeks).