Relaxation Techniques for People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

Introduction. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) people su er from severe physical impairments, which o en elicit signi cant psychological distress and impact their quality of life. is meta-analysis aimed to assess evidence from the scienti c literature on the e ects of relaxation techniques. Methods. We investigated 9 databases to select 25 RCTs. Studies included both inpatients and outpatients with COPD. Both respiratory and psychological outcomes were considered. Results. Relaxation techniques showed a little positive e ect on the value of the percentage of predicted FEV1 ( = 0.20; 95% Cl: 0.40–−0.01) as well as a slight e ect on levels of both the anxiety ( = 0.26; 95% Cl: 0.42–0.10) and depression ( = 0.33; 95% Cl: 0.53–0.13). e higher e ect size was found in the quality of life value ( = 0.38; 95% Cl: 0.51–0.24). e assessed quality of the studies, based on the PEDro Scale, was generally medium/high. Conclusion. Relaxation training can have a moderate impact on both psychological well-being and respiratory function, resulting in noticeable improvements in both. Although higher quality research is required, our results sustain the importance of relaxation techniques as a tool to manage COPD.