Introduction: Breathing exercises are among the key nursing interventions for managing complications and improving quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Therefore, educating patients about these exercises is essential.
Objective: This study compared the effects of face-to-face and video-based breathing exercise training on quality of life in patients with COPD.
Material and Methods: This quasi-experimental, three-group, pretest–posttest study was conducted in 2024–2025 among 90 patients with COPD attending selected military hospitals in Kerman, Iran. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling and assigned to three groups of 30. The control group received routine education, while the two intervention groups received four 20-minute sessions of breathing exercise training delivered either face to face or by video. Data were collected using a demographic characteristics questionnaire and the SF-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26, with the significance level set at 0.05.
Results: Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant changes in physical functioning in both intervention groups (P<0.001), and a significant difference among the three groups after the intervention (P<0.001). A significant change in role limitations due to physical health was observed in the face-to-face group (P<0.001). Both training approaches were associated with significant changes in bodily pain (P<0.001). General health changed significantly in the video-based (P=0.005) and face-to-face (P<0.001) groups. In the psychosocial domains, social functioning improved significantly in both intervention groups (P<0.001), while emotional well-being changed significantly in the video-based group (P=0.017). No statistically significant change was observed in vitality (P>0/001).
Conclusion: Face-to-face and video-based breathing exercise training may affect some dimensions of quality of life in patients with COPD. Because the effects varied across dimensions, either method may be selected according to the patient’s circumstances and available educational resources.