IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF DEEP BREATHING WITH INSPIRATORY HOLD ON OXYGEN SATURATION IN HEALTHY ELDERLY

Background: In even healthy elderly oxygen saturation significantly reduces due to normal ageing changes including reduced elastic recoil property of lung, reduced inspiratory capacity of thorax, decreased compliance of chest wall & impaired gas exchange thereby reducing oxygen saturation level .The Immediate effects of deep breathing with inspiratory hold have different types of benefits like significant decrease of atelectasis area , increase in aerated lung area, facilitates collateral ventilation ultimately improved gas exchange increase the level of oxygen saturation. Method: 33 Healthy elderly subjects above the age of 65 years at Jalgaon city was included for the study . subjects with a history of cardiorespiratory disease, history of central nervous system and a history of peripheral vascular disease were excluded. Experimental study (pre and post) was conducted with a convenient sampling. oxygen saturation was measured using pulse Oxymeter. Then subjects were instructed to perform deep breathing with inspiratory hold (3 seconds) for 5 minutes this was followed by recording of oxygen saturation. Data was analyzed considering 95 % confidence interval and level of significance at 0.05. Results: Oxygen saturation is found to be significantly increased (P=0.00) after performing deep breathing with inspiratory hold. Conclusion: The study concluded that there was a significant improvement in oxygen saturation with deep breathing with inspiratory hold technique in healthy elderly subjects above the age of 65 years.