Evaluating the Efficiency of Breathing Exercises via Telemedicine in Post-Covid-19 Patients: Randomized Controlled Study

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of breathing exercises given by telemedicine in post-Covid-19 dyspneic individuals. Individuals in the intervention group (n: 26) were asked to perform breathing exercise three times a day for 5 weeks (one session performed via telemedicine each week). Individuals in the control group (n: 26) were given a brochure explaining the exercises. The St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, Pulmonary function tests, and six-minute-walk-tests were administered to all individuals at the beginning and end of the study. The posttest FEV1, FVC, MVV values were significantly higher than the pretest values in the intervention group (p(2) < .001) whereas no significant differences were found in the control group. Six-minute-walk-distance increased by 54.27 m in the intervention group and 4.69 m in the control group. With breathing exercise training applied through telemedicine, improvements were observed in the pulmonary functions, quality of life, and exercise capacities of dyspneic post-Covid-19 individuals.