Relaxation Effects of Personalized Breathing Exercises for Healthy College Students

Technical University of Munich

Status: Completed

Conditions: Breathing Exercises

Treatments: Behavioral: Breathing Exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06121596

P-BP-40-60-80-RCT

Details and patient eligibility

About

Stress plays a major role in the etiology and pathogenesis of anxiety and depression. Relaxation therapies, such as breathing exercises, can reduce stress and increase relaxation.

This study has two aims. First, it aims to personalize and optimize breathing protocols. Second, it aims to tailor breathing protocols to subgroups based on prediction models of expected efficacy.

Three different breathing protocols, varying solely in their instructed breathing frequency with 40 percent (A), 60 percent (B), and 80 percent (C) of the interindividual spontaneous breathing frequency, are tested in a randomized, counterbalanced crossover trial. Other parameters, such as breathing quality (i.e., nasal and diaphragmatic), rhythm (i.e., prolonged exhalation without instructed pauses) and depth (i.e., increased depth due to slower breathing frequency) as well as contextual factors (e.g., posture, video-based instructions, type of pacer, etc.) are invariant between protocols.

First, this study hypothesizes a difference in the relaxation response between breathing protocols A, B, and C. This study looks at the relaxation response from three different angles (1) self-report, (2) autonomic arousal, and (3) central nervous system arousal. Second, this study explores prediction models of expected efficacy based on the interindividual variance in characteristics (i.e., depressive, anxious and stress symptoms as well as expertise in relaxation therapies) and biomarkers (e.g., heart rate variability, peripheral temperature, skin conductance, etc.). Prediction models can tailor breathing protocols to subgroups to increase expected efficacy.

Enrollment: 42 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Above 18 years old
• University student
• Native German speaker

Exclusion criteria

• Any psychiatric (e.g., anxiety), neurologic (e.g., epilepsy) or cardio-pulmonary (e.g., asthma) diagnosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

42 participants in 3 patient groups

Breathing Exercise with 40 Percent of the Spontaneous Breathing Frequency (A)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants are instructed (via visual pacer) to reduce their breathing frequency to 40 percent of their spontaneous breathing frequency for a period of five minutes. In advance, participants are instructed (via pre-recorded video) to breathe nasally (if possible) and abdominally, with a prolonged exhalation (inspiration-to-expiration ratio is 1-to-2 - also instructed via visual pacer) during the breathing exercise.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Breathing Exercise

Breathing Exercise with 60 Percent of the Spontaneous Breathing Frequency (B)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants are instructed (via visual pacer) to reduce their breathing frequency to 60 percent of their spontaneous breathing frequency for a period of five minutes. In advance, participants are instructed (via pre-recorded video) to breathe nasally (if possible) and abdominally, with a prolonged exhalation (inspiration-to-expiration ratio is 1-to-2 - also instructed via visual pacer) during the breathing exercise.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Breathing Exercise

Breathing Exercise with 80 Percent of the Spontaneous Breathing Frequency (C)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants are instructed (via visual pacer) to reduce their breathing frequency to 80 percent of their spontaneous breathing frequency for a period of five minutes. In advance, participants are instructed (via pre-recorded video) to breathe nasally (if possible) and abdominally, with a prolonged exhalation (inspiration-to-expiration ratio is 1-to-2 - also instructed via visual pacer) during the breathing exercise.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Breathing Exercise