The development of singing therapy protocol and its evaluation on lung function and chest expansion: comparison between singing and no singing / Norhuda Sulaiman

• Main Author: Sulaiman, Norhuda
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Physical medicine. Physical therapy. Including massage, exercise, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, phototherapy, radiotherapy, thermotherapy, electrotherapy
• Online Access: https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/53914/1/53914.pdf; https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/53914/

Currently, singing famed as an adjunct therapy has excited numerous research interests since it is said to contribute to various health benefits. Previous qualitative data studies reported that singing had improved patients’ psychological, social, stress and physical levels. In terms of corporeal progress, patients enlightened that singing improved their breathing as well as their physical well-being. However, studies on the effects of singing therapy on respiratory measure are inconclusive. Dosage and singing protocol are cited as the contributing factors related to the insignificant results. Hence, the objective of this study is to develop a Singing Therapy Protocol (STP) and to evaluate its effect on lung function and chest expansion. Gaps of the literature substantiated by reviews of experts engaged by this study were carried out to formulate the STP. Thirty physiotherapy students from the Universiti Teknologi MARA form the participants of this study. They were divided equally into the STP group and the No Singing (NS) group. The STP group practiced the STP for two sessions per day, five days per week and consecutively for 4 weeks. The NS group continued their daily routines without additional physical activity. The outcome measures used are lung Function (FEV1 and FVC parameters) and chest expansion measurements (Upper and lower thoracic). Measurements were taken pre and post the 4 weeks. Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS version 23 software to determine the Within Group and the Between Group changes for all the outcomes of lung function and chest expansion. Results show significant differences between time and group where FEV1 F (1, 28) =0.069, p=0.005, and FVC F (1, 28) =15.603, p=0.000, but with both effect size being small. No significant difference was found for both the upper and the lower thoracic expansion. For the Between Group analysis, Kruskall- Wallis test was used and it showed a significant difference between the STP group (mean rank=20.80) and the NS group (mean rank=10.20) where H=10.993, p=0.001, Cohen’s ƒ=0.781 for FEV1 mean differences and for FVC mean differences for the STP group (mean rank=22.47) and the NS group (mean rank=8.53) group, H=18.943, p=0.000, Cohen’s ƒ = 1.372 respectively. However, there was no significant difference between both groups for chest expansion outcome. This study concludes that practicing the Adopted STP for twice daily, five days per week and continuous routines for 4 weeks improves the lung volumes among the participants. Therefore, the STP has demonstrated itself as a comprehensive exercise for respiratory purposes which comprises of a combination of diaphragmatic breathing and pursed-lip breathing routines. In fact, these facilitated the preparedness of the respiratory muscles before the practice. Hence, this protocol enhanced the thoracic cage movements and improved lung volumes. Indeed, the STP developed by this study could be exploited as an adjunct therapy in clinical practice for patients with respiratory disorders especially those suffering from COPD and the like.