Sama Vritti Pranayama breathing exercise on sleep disturbance and fatigue among hemodialysis patients: A quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Poor sleep quality and fatigue are common complications in hemodialysis patients. Although Sama Vritti pranayama breathing exercise as a yogic breathing is prescribed to improve sleep quality, its efficacy in this group of patients is not well established. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of Sama Vritti Pranayama applied to hemodialysis patients on sleep disturbance and fatigue. METHODS: The pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was conducted in 60 hemodialysis patients. Data were collected from May to October 2023. A Sama Vritti pranayama breathing exercise was given to the experimental group (n= 30) twice a day for two months. Control group (n=30) received only routine hospital care. Sleep disturbance and fatigue were assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), at baseline and after 2-month intervention. RESULTS: The two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic characteristics, insomnia severity (P=0.54) and fatigue score (P=0.74) at baseline. Following a 2-month intervention, insomnia severity (P=0.02) and fatigue score (P=0.00) were significantly better in the experimental group compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: A 2-month Sama Vritti pranayama breathing exercise can effectively reduce insomnia severity and minimize fatigue score of hemodialysis patients. Therefore, this breathing exercise as a feasible practice should be recommended for hemodialysis patients to manage sleep disturbance and fatigue.