Summary
Since the introduction of medical therapy for asthma the interest in non-medical treatments
deteriorated. Physiotherapy could have beneficial effects in asthmatics. This review investigates
the effectiveness of physiotherapy in the treatment of patients with asthma.
A review was performed on the terms breathing exercises (BE), inspiratory muscle training
(IMT), physical training (PhT) and airway clearance (AC) in patients with asthma.
The search resulted in 237 potentially relevant articles, after exclusion 23 articles remained.
BE (n Z 9) may improve disease specific quality of life (QoL), reduce symptoms, hyperventilation,
anxiety and depression, lower respiratory rate and medication use. IMT (n Z 3) can improve
inspiratory pressure and may reduce medication use and symptoms. PhT (n Z 12) can
reduce symptoms, improve QoL and improve cardiopulmonary endurance and fitness.
In conclusion, physiotherapy may improve QoL, cardiopulmonary fitness and inspiratory
pressure and reduce symptoms and medication use. Further studies, investigating combinations
of techniques, are needed to confirm these findings.