Sipping Warm Water While Relaxing Is Not More Effective Than Relaxing Alone for Relief of Bronchospasm in Asthmatic Children

Abstract

Children have been encouraged to sip warm water and to sit quietly and relax as a routine first intervention to help them relieve bronchospasm from asthma. The purpose of this study was to compare sipping warm water while relaxing to relaxing alone for the ability of either to improve FEV₁, pulse and respiratory rates, chest score, and cough during acute episodes of bronchospasm. Sixteen asthmatic children 12-18 years of age were evaluated for their response to sipping warm water while relaxing and to relaxing alone during a minimum of two episodes of bronchospasm for each treatment. At the beginning of coughing, wheezing, or a complaint of tightness, an FEV₁, pulse and respiratory rates, chest score, and the presence or absence of cough were recorded. One of the two independent variables was then introduced randomly. Posttreatment assessment was done at the end of the 10-minute period and included the above data. An F-test was applied to the data for analysis of change in the dependent variables for the patients as a group and for individual subjects according to treatment. Neither sipping warm water while relaxing nor relaxing alone relived bronchospasm as determined by changes in FEV₁. In general, there was wide variation in response of the subjects to these interventions, with some subjects having significantly worse FEV₁ scores, increased pulse rates, and worse chest scores after being asked to sip warm water while relaxing. The conclusion of this study is that children need to be evaluated carefully for individual response to even simple interventions. Further research on methods to relieve bronchospasm is warranted.