A comparative study of effects of pranayama and aerobic exercise on spirometric indices in the age group of 30–50 years

ABSTRACT

Background: Increasing awareness to lifestyle disease has led to more participation of people in taking up various forms of exercise to avail more health benefits. The ability to perform physical exercise is related to cardiovascular systems capacity to supply oxygen to muscles and pulmonary systems ability to clear carbon di oxide from blood via lungs. Spirometry is a physiological test that measures the volume and flow of air that can be inhaled and exhaled. Aim and Objectives: The purpose of this study is not only to assess the beneficial effects of pranayama and aerobic exercises but to compare the improvements in the lung functions among these two modalities of exercises. Materials and Methods: It is a non-randomized cross-sectional comparative study. Total 150 participants of both sexes aged 30–50 years were selected and divided equally into three groups Pranayama group, aerobic exercise group, and control group who were doing pranayama and aerobic exercise and no exercise respectively from the past 3 months were included in the study. The participants were assessed by their anthropometric parameters, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). Results: Among Pranayama groups, there was significantly higher level of FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, and PEFR as compared to aerobic exercise group and control group. Conclusion: Both pranayama and aerobic exercise play an important role in improving the pulmonary functions but effects were more pronounced with pranayama.