Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37197801›Full record

Trial reportRespiratory care2023

Alleviation of Dyspnea and Changes in Physical Activity Level by Air Flow to the Face With a Fan.

Hideko Nagumo, Tetsuo Miyagawa, Mitsuhiro Sumitani, Miki Fujiwara, Hiroko Saito, Satoshi Takagi, Tohru Tsuda, Hisanori Imoto, Motoki Ohe

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Respiratory care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Application of Fan Therapy in Alleviating Dyspnea.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025
    Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Hideko NagumoDepartment of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tokyo Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan; and Bio Functional and Morphological Analysis, Showa University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan. h-nagumo@u-ths.ac.jp.
Tetsuo MiyagawaDepartment of Rehabilitation Studies, Kochi Professional University of Rehabilitation, Kochi, Japan; and Bio Functional and Morphological Analysis, Showa University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Mitsuhiro SumitaniDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, Chibune General Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Miki FujiwaraDepartment of Nursing, Osaka City General Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Hiroko SaitoDepartment of Nursing, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
Satoshi TakagiDepartment of Nursing, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
Tohru TsudaRespiratory Medicine, Kirigaoka Tsuda Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hisanori ImotoDepartment of Nursing, Kirigaoka Tsuda Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
Motoki OheMotoki Medical Clinic, Kanagawa, Japan.
Nippon Medical School · JPShowa University · JPTsuda University · JPChibune General Hospital · JPKishokai Medical Corporation · JPOsaka City General Hospital · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDyspnea is an unpleasant subjective symptom and is associated with decreased physical activity level (PAL). Effect of blowing air toward the face has received a great deal of attention as a symptomatic therapy for dyspnea. However, little is known about the duration of its effect and its impact on PAL. Therefore, this study aimed to measure dyspnea severity and changes in dyspnea and PALs with air blasts to the face.

methodsThe trial conducted was open-label, randomized, and controlled. This study included out-patients with dyspnea caused by chronic respiratory deficiency. Subjects were provided a small fan and instructed to blow air toward their faces either twice a day or when having trouble breathing. Subsequently, severity of dyspnea and PALs was measured using visual analog scale and physical activity scale for the elderly (PASE), respectively, before and after 3-week treatment. Amounts of changes in dyspnea and PALs before and after treatment were compared using analysis of covariance.

resultsOverall, 36 subjects were randomized, and 34 were analyzed. Mean age was 75.4 y (26 males [76.5%] and 8 females [23.5%]). Visual analog scale score for dyspnea (SD) before treatment was 33 (13.9) mm and 42 (17.5) mm in the control and intervention groups, respectively. PASE score before treatment was 78.0 (45.1) and 57.7 (38.0) in the control and intervention groups, respectively. No significant difference in changes in dyspnea severity and PAL was observed between the 2 groups.

conclusionsNo significant difference was observed for dyspnea and PALs in subjects after blowing air toward their own faces with a small fan for 3 weeks at home. Disease variability and impact of protocol violations were high due to small number of cases. Further studies with a design focused on subject protocol adherence and measurement methods are required to understand impact of air flow on dyspnea and PAL.

Indexed as

ExercisePalliative CareAgedDyspneaFemaleHumansMaleair flowchronic diseasechronic respiratory diseasedyspneaend-of-life/palliative carefanlung cancermalignancyphysical activity levelrehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID37197801
PMCPMC10676249
OpenAlexW4376877647

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.