Paper Title
EFFECTIVENESS OF BREATHING TRAINING PROGRAM ON QUALITY OF LIFE AND DEPRESSION AMONG HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS: A QUASI‐EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract
Aim: To evaluate effectiveness of breathing training program on quality of life and depression among hemodialysis patients. Background: Chronic kidney disease is a progressive and complicated disease that commonly affects people’s quality of life and increases their depression risk. Using non-pharmacological interventions to manage depression can be safer and more cost-effective, such as breathing exercises, which have been shown to be effective in chronically ill patients in other disease groups. There is a possibility that similar interventional advantages might be found in hemodialysis patients. Design: One group pretest–post‐testquasi‐experimental design was used in convenience sample with 72 participants. Methods: Data were collected from hemodialysis units in 3 dialysis centers at Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study includes three measures: sociodemographic characteristics, the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Version (KDQOL™-36) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II). Initial baseline data were collected, and then the breathing training program was implemented. After that, the impact on outcomes was measured usingthe KDQOL™-36 and BDI-II from the same participants. Participants were asked to perform the breathing training program three times a day for 30 days. Results: The mean age of the patients was 52.1 15.0,with nearly two-thirds of them being males(63.4%). Participants who were undergoing hemodialysis for 1- 4 years constitute the largest number of the sample (46.3%), and 17.1% of participants visited a psychiatric clinic 1-3 times.The results show that the breathing training program improved overall quality of life and reduced symptoms and problems domain. In addition, a significant decrease in the overall score of depression was observed after implementing the intervention. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the effectiveness of the breathing training program in improving quality of life and reducing depression symptoms in hemodialysis patients. Using this intervention in dialysis units to manage psychological issues will offer a simple, safe, easy, and inexpensive intervention. Keywords - Breathing Training Program, Exercise, Quality of Life, Depression, HEMODIALYSIS.