Table 4
RCTs of biofeedback for asthma symptoms
| Design | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a) Sample size calculated | d) daily | ||||||||
| N [age range] ATS criteria | b) true randomised | e) duration | Dropouts (DO) and withdrawals (WD) | Jadad score | |||||
| Source | c)blind | f) follow up | Treatment | Control | Primary measures | Results | |||
| FEV1=forced expiratory volume in 1 second, FVC=forced vital capacity, PEFR=peak expiratory flow rate, Raw=airway resistance, NSD=no significant difference (between groups). | |||||||||
| Kotses et al20 | 33 [7–16 years] | Two parallel groups | Biofeedback for facial relaxation (FD) (n=17) | Biofeedback for maintaining face tension at a stable level (FS) (n=16) | 2 DO from each group | 2 | i) Lung function tests incl. FEV1/FVC, PEFR | i) NSD | |
| Yes | a) no | d) unclear | ii) Scores | ii) NSD | |||||
| b) yes | e) 2 months | a) Asthma severity | |||||||
| c) no | f) 5.5 months | b) Medicine | |||||||
| c) Frequency of attacks | |||||||||
| Coen et al21 | 20 [12–22 years] | Two parallel groups | Relaxation techniques aided by biofeedback 15 mins twice daily (n=10) | Telephone contact (n=10) | Not stated although only sporadic data on PEFR because of compliance | 1 | i) Lung function tests | i) NSD | |
| No | a) no | d) daily ×2 | ii) Symptom/medication score | ii) NSD | |||||
| b) yes | e) 8 weeks | ||||||||
| c) no | f) 14 days | ||||||||
