Effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercıses on Dyspnea and Comfort Level in Individuals With COPD

The study is a randomised controlled experimental study conducted to examine the effect of progressive relaxation exercises on dyspnea and comfort level in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The study was conducted between January and August 2023 in the Internal Medicine Clinic of Izmir Urla State Hospital. Stratified and block randomisation method was used in the study and 42 patients, 21 intervention group and 21 control group, were completed. Patients in the intervention group received 30-minute progressive relaxation exercises for 6 weeks. Patients in the control group did not receive any intervention other than standard care practices. The data of the study were collected by face-to-face interview method using the Descriptive Information Form, Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, General Comfort Scale-Short Form and Patient Follow-up Form. Descriptive statistics, Shapiro Wilk test, Levene's test, Mauchly's W test, independent sample T test, Mann Whitney U test, dependent sample t test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test, Friedman test, Benferoni test and Fisher's Exact test were used to analyse the data obtained from the study. It was determined that the mean dyspnea level scores of the patients in the intervention group at week 6 were lower than the control group and this difference between the groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). It was determined that the decrease in the mean comfort level scores of the patients in the intervention group according to the follow-up periods was statistically significant (p<0.05). According to the results of the study, progressive relaxation exercises can be recommended as an effective nursing intervention to provide dyspnea management in patients with COPD.