Efficacy of Bhramari pranayama and Om chanting on asthma control, quality of life, and airway inflammation in asthmatic children: an open-label randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objectives

To explore the efficacy of combination of Bhramari pranayama and om chanting as an adjunct to standard pharmacological treatment on asthma control, quality of life, pulmonary function, and airway inflammation in asthmatic children.

Methods

Children (n = 110; 8–15 years) with uncontrolled or partly controlled asthma were recruited from the Pediatric Chest Clinic of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Eligible participants were randomized to either home-based online Bhramari pranayama and om chanting plus standard treatment (YI + ST) group, or standard treatment (ST) alone group. Primary outcome measures were 12-week change in level of asthma symptom control; asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score, spirometry indices, impulse oscillometry parameters, and pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire (PAQLQ) score. Secondary outcome was a change in fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels at 12 weeks. Beginning from the enrollment, every participant was evaluated at 0, 2, 6, and 12 weeks.

Results

After 12 weeks of intervention, higher proportion (68.2%) of children were found to have controlled asthma symptoms in the YI + ST group as compared to ST group (38.5%) according to per protocol analysis (p = 0.03). When compared to ST group, children in YI + ST group showed significantly lower ACQ score, higher PAQLQ score and reduced FeNO levels. No significant changes were observed for the lung function parameters.

Conclusion

Children practicing Bhramari pranayama and om chanting for 12 weeks have better asthma symptom control, quality of life, and reduced airway inflammation than those taking standard pharmacotherapy alone.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• Bhramari pranayama
• om chanting
• pulmonary function
• children

Acknowledgments

This study is funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. Authors are thankful to the children and their parents for their valuable contributions in this trial. Authors also extend their gratitude to Ms Varsha Singh (Yoga Therapist), Mr Satish, Mr Ajay, and Mr Raman for their constant help and support in performing spirometry and FeNO measurements. The authors are grateful to Professor Elizabeth F. Juniper, Department of Clinical and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Canada for giving permission to use her questionnaires in our study.

Declaration of interest

The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Author contributions

Rashmi Yadav: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; methodology; project administration; software; writing—original draft, review and editing. Sushil Kumar Kabra and Rakesh Lodha: conceptualization; funding acquisition; project administration; resources; supervision; writing—original draft, review and editing. Raj Kumar Yadav: conceptualization; methodology; resources. Kana Ram Jat: data curation, resources, investigation. Arnab Nandy: data curation; investigation; writing: review and editing. Ashish Datt Upadhyay: data analysis.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi.