Patients with a history of COVID-19 infection may suffer from different physical problems. This study aimed to investigate the effect of corrective and breathing exercises on improving respiratory function among patients with a history of COVID-19 infection. In this clinical trial study, thirty elderlies with a history of COVID-19 disease were divided into two groups (mean age 63.60 ± 3.56 experimental, 59.87 ± 2.99 control groups) based on the study inclusion criteria. Exercise interventions included two sections- breathing exercises and corrective exercises in the cervical and thoracic spine. The spirometry test, craniovertebral angle, and thoracic kyphosis test were used. To evaluate differences between variables, paired-samples t-test and ANCOVA were used (p-value < 0.01). Also, Eta-squared was measured to assess the effect size. Results showed a significant difference between the two groups in craniovertebral angle (P = 0.001), thoracic kyphosis (P = 0.007), and respiratory capacity including Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (P = 0.002), FEV1/FVC (P = 0.003), Peripheral oxygen saturation (SPO2) (P = 0.001), while no significant differences were observed between two groups in terms of chest anthropometric indices (P > 0.01). The Eta-squared value of 0.51 for the Craniovertebral angle and the SPO2 indicates a large effect size. The results showed the combination of corrective and breathing exercises could improve pulmonary function and correct cervical and thoracic posture in patients with a history of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, corrective and breathing exercises can be helpful as a complementary treatment along with pharmaceutical therapy to reduce chronic pulmonary complications in patients infected with COVID-19. This research was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT registration number: IRCT20160815029373N7, First trial registration: 23/08/2021, Registration date: 01/09/2021).

中文翻译：

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矫正和呼吸练习对有 COVID-19 感染史的老年人呼吸功能的影响：一项随机对照试验

有 COVID-19 感染史的患者可能会出现不同的身体问题。本研究旨在调查矫正和呼吸练习对改善有 COVID-19 感染史患者呼吸功能的影响。在这项临床试验研究中，根据研究纳入标准，将 30 名有 COVID-19 病史的老年人分为两组（平均年龄 63.60 ± 3.56 实验组，59.87 ± 2.99 对照组）。运动干预包括两个部分——颈椎和胸椎的呼吸练习和矫正练习。使用肺量计测试、颅椎角和胸椎后凸测试。为了评估变量之间的差异，使用了配对样本 t 检验和 ANCOVA（p 值 < 0.01）。此外，还测量了 Eta 平方以评估效果大小。结果显示，两组在颅椎角度（P = 0.001）、胸椎后凸（P = 0.007）和呼吸能力（包括第一秒用力呼气量（FEV1）（P = 0.002）、FEV1/FVC（P = 0.003），外周血氧饱和度（SPO2）（P = 0.001），而两组在胸部人体测量指标方面无显着差异（P > 0.01）。颅椎角和 SPO2 的 Eta 平方值为 0.51 表明效果大小很大。结果表明，矫正和呼吸练习相结合可以改善有 COVID-19 感染史的患者的肺功能并纠正颈胸姿势。所以，纠正和呼吸练习可以作为辅助治疗与药物治疗一起使用，以减少感染 COVID-19 的患者的慢性肺部并发症。本研究已在伊朗临床试验注册中心注册（IRCT 注册号：IRCT20160815029373N7，首次试验注册：23/08/2021，注册日期：01/09/2021）。