ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07722923Updated Sep 16, 2026

Effects of Box Breathing Exercise in Patients With Fibromyalgia

An interventional study of Box Breathing Exercise in Fibromyalgia, sponsored by Artvin Coruh University. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-16.

Sponsored by Artvin Coruh University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2026; still recruiting 1 month later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that can cause widespread pain, sleep problems, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, and reduced comfort. This study will evaluate whether box breathing exercise improves sleep quality, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and comfort in patients with fibromyalgia.

A total of 60 participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. Participants in the intervention group will continue their routine treatment and perform box breathing exercises for 10 minutes twice daily for 30 days. Participants in the control group will continue their routine treatment without receiving the breathing exercise. Sleep quality, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and comfort will be assessed at the beginning and at the end of the 30-day study period

02

Conditions studied

  • Fibromyalgia

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03

In context

Fibromyalgia

1,243 studies on the registry are indexed under Fibromyalgia; 256 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is close to the median of 60 across 937 interventional studies indexed under Fibromyalgia.

Browse Fibromyalgia studies →

Lead sponsor

Artvin Coruh University is the lead sponsor of 29 studies on the registry; 16 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Having a diagnosis of fibromyalgia
  • Having a Visual Analog Scale pain score of 5 or higher
  • Having a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score of 5 or higher
  • Being able to communicate and complete the study assessments
  • Voluntarily agreeing to participate and providing

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having a respiratory condition such as asthma or
  • Having a communication problem that prevents participation in the study procedures or completion of the assessment tools
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Box Breathing Exercise

    Participants in this arm will continue their routine treatment and perform box breathing exercises for 10 minutes twice daily, in the morning and evening, for 30 days. Each breathing cycle consists of inhaling through the nose for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 4 seconds, exhaling for 4 seconds, and holding the breath again for 4 seconds.

    Behavioral: Box Breathing Exercise

  • No intervention
    Routine Treatment

    Participants in this arm will continue their routine treatment for 30 days and will not receive the box breathing exercise intervention. Outcome assessments will be completed at baseline and at the end of the 30-day study period.

Interventions

  • BehavioralBox Breathing Exercise

    Participants will perform box breathing exercises for 10 minutes twice daily, in the morning and evening, for 30 days. Each breathing cycle consists of inhaling through the nose for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 4 seconds, exhaling for 4 seconds, and holding the breath again for 4 seconds.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Sleep Quality Assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

    Sleep quality will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The total score ranges from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating poorer sleep quality. The change in total PSQI score from baseline to the end of the intervention will be evaluated.

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 30

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Pain Intensity Assessed by the Visual Analog Scale

    Pain intensity will be assessed using a 10-cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS), ranging from 0, indicating no pain, to 10, indicating the worst imaginable pain. The change in VAS score from baseline to the end of the intervention will be evaluated.

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 30

  2. Change in Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Assessed by the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale

    Gastrointestinal symptoms will be assessed using the 15-item Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS). Each item is rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 to 7. The total GSRS score ranges from 15 to 105, with higher scores indicating greater gastrointestinal symptom severity. The change in the total GSRS score from baseline to the end of the intervention will be evaluated.

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 30

  3. Change in Comfort Assessed by the General Comfort Scale

    Comfort will be assessed using the 48-item General Comfort Scale. After reverse-scoring the negatively worded items, the total score will be divided by the number of items to obtain a mean score ranging from 1 to 4. Higher scores indicate greater comfort. The change in the mean score from baseline to the end of the intervention will be evaluated.

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 30

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Hitit University Çorum Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital
    Çorum, Turkey (Türkiye)
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Sep 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 12 months after the start.

Of 436 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Fibromyalgia, half reached primary completion within 16 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 31. This study's planned 12 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 449 studies reached it within 15 months; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 31.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 20, 2026
First posted
Jul 23, 2026
StartActual
Sep 14, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Sep 15, 2027
CompletionEst.
Sep 15, 2027
Last update
Sep 16, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 16, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07722923
Lead sponsor
Artvin Coruh University
Responsible party
EMRE ERKAL (Assistant Professor, Artvin Coruh University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 23, 2026
Start date
Sep 14, 2026
Primary completion
Sep 15, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 15, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 16, 2026

Study contacts

Emre ERKAL, PhD
Contact
emreerkal@hotmail.de
+90 5433750709

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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