CNRS UMR 6024, LaPSCo, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
School of Exercise Science, Faculty of Health, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 29;11(1):19267. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98736-9.
Anxiety is recognized as a major health issue and is quite prevalent among older adults. An efficient way to manage anxiety is abdominal breathing. Breathing exercises seem to reduce anxiety and to increase parasympathetic activity assessed by HRV indexes. Yet, the effect of abdominal breathing on physiological stress (HRV) and anxiety in older adults remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the effects of deep and slow breathing (DSB, low inhale/exhale ratio) on physiological stress and anxiety in older adults (n = 22) in comparison with younger ones (n = 25). DSB increased significantly HFpower and reduced state anxiety in both younger and older adults. Interestingly, the increased in HF power was significantly higher among older adults than younger ones. As expected, the ratio inhale/exhale being not equal, RMSSD did not increase following DSB. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that DSB is more beneficial to older adults than younger ones to restore vagal outflow. Despite future work being required, those results provide relevant clinical application leads to manage state anxiety among older adults and to promote successfull aging.
焦虑被认为是一个主要的健康问题，在老年人中相当普遍。管理焦虑的一种有效方法是腹式呼吸。呼吸练习似乎可以减轻焦虑，并通过 HRV 指数增加副交感神经活动。然而，腹式呼吸对老年人生理应激（HRV）和焦虑的影响仍知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在比较深慢呼吸（DSB，低吸气/呼气比）对年轻（n=25）和老年（n=22）成年人的生理应激和焦虑的影响。DSB 显著增加了年轻和老年成年人的 HF 功率，并降低了状态焦虑。有趣的是，与年轻人相比，老年人的 HF 功率增加更为显著。正如预期的那样，由于吸气/呼气比不相等，RMSSD 并没有随着 DSB 的进行而增加。因此，我们提供的证据表明，DSB 对老年人比年轻人更有益，可恢复迷走神经输出。尽管需要进一步的研究，但这些结果提供了相关的临床应用线索，可用于管理老年人的状态焦虑，并促进成功老龄化。
