Thirty school-age children with asthma aged 7 - 12 years old who were admitted at the outpatient examination room, Phramongkutklao Hospital, divided into 2 groups. The first group was 15 individuals trained with sustained maximal inspiration (SMI) breathing exercise while the second group was 15 individuals training with balloon-blowing breathing exercise. Participants were required to complete breathing exercise 5 times per week for 8 weeks. Five breathing exercises were taken for 8 weeks before and after the experiment. Physiological characteristics data, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and asthma symptoms variables were comparatively analyzed before and after training. The mean values of variables before and after the experiment of each group were analyzed using paired t-test.
This study were to investigate the effects of balloon blowing breathing exercise on respiratory muscle strength and asthma symptoms in school-age children with asthma.