Effects of the Self-training Breathing Exercise on Pulmonary Function in Teachers
Benjamas Prathanee PhD1, Yongyut Saiban BSc2, Patorn Piromchai MD, PhD1
Affiliation : 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand 2 Science Program in Exercise and Sport Sciences Program, Graduate School, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Objective : To determine the effectiveness of the self-training breathing exercise on pulmonary function in teachers.
Materials and Methods : Thirty-four teachers performed the four steps of the self-training breathing exercise program every
day for 13 weeks. The pulmonary functions were measured at pre-training and the end of the study.
Results : The self-training breathing exercise program significantly improved pulmonary functions at post-training test for
force vital capacity (mean difference [MD] = 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.34, 0.76); forced expiratory volume in
one second (MD = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.36, 0.77), and peak expiratory flow rate (MD = 1.47; 95% CI = 0.54, 2.40). Vocal
nodules in 4 teachers dramatically disappeared at the end point of the study.
Conclusion : The self-training breathing exercise significantly improves pulmonary functions and remedies vocal pathologies
in the teachers. This program can be applied for enhancing pulmonary function in other professional voice users, patients
with abnormal lung functions as well as people with cleft palate who need more lung volume to compensate air leakage to
nasal cavity from velopharyngeal insufficiency.
Keywords : Breathing exercise, Pulmonary function, Self-training breathing, Cleft palate
