Effect of Breathing Exercise on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Meta-analysis / 胃肠病学

ABSTRACT

Background: Breathing exercise can improve the symptoms of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), but its specific effect and function are controversial. Aims: To evaluate the effect of breathing exercise on GERD. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies on breathing exercise in treatment of patients with GERD were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Central Database, Web of Science, AMED, CINAHL, Chinese Academic Journal Full-text Database, China Biology Medicine disc, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and Weipu Information Chinese Journal Service Platform. The literatures were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.3 software. Results: A total of 7 RCTs and 2 cohort studies involving 396 patients with GERD were included. Meta-analysis results showed that breathing exercise could relieve the short-term symptoms of patients with GERD (WMD=1.34, 95% CI 0.99-1.70, P<0.01), improve the quality of life (WMD=2.65, 95% CI 1.96-3.33, P<0.01), decrease the degree of depression (WMD=2.42, 95% CI 1.41-3.42, P<0.01), reduce the long-term consumption of antacids (WMD=-34.11, 95% CI -55.75-12.48, P<0.05), increase LES pressure (WMD=1.36, 95% CI 0.82-1.91, P<0.01), increase tension of diaphragmatic crura (WMD=7.13, 95% CI 6.22-8.04, P<0.01). Conclusions: Breathing exercise can relieve the symptoms of patients with GERD and enhance the effect of medical treatment to some extent.