The Effects of Reciting Holy Quran by Tartil on Functional Capacity of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Pilot Quasi-experimental Study

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the most common respiratory diseases. Due to limitation of breathing; especially on exhalation, shortness of breath, mostly on exertion is the main complaint of these patients, which in turn leads to a decrease in functional capacity and physical activity during daily life activities. Breathing exercises, pulmonary rehabilitation along with drug therapy, are foundation treatments. However, one of the obstacles of rehabilitation programs is the discrepancy between therapeutic measures and social-cultural aspects of patients’ personal lives that decrease the success rate of programs in long term. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of reciting the Quran by tartil as a culture- based breathing exercise on functional capacity of patients with COPD.

The study was a prospective case series study done on a group of COPD patients referring to an outpatient respiratory clinic. They were enrolled in the study voluntarily with consideration of ethical codes. They were stable but had imitation in daily activities due to exertional dyspnea. The study was commenced on 2021/04/14 and terminated after six weeks. The subjects recited as much as Ayat of Yassin every day by tartil. Forced Expiratory lung Volume in first second (FEV1) and 6-minute walk distance test were measured before and after the study.

In order to carry out this study, eight COPD patients participated. The mean age was 66.38 ± 12.00 years, ranging from 42 to 83. Participants included three women and five men. Mean FEV1 increased at the end of study from 1.58 ± 0.76 to 1.36 ± 0.46. (P value = 0.002). The distance on six-minute walk distance test (6 MWT) increased from 310.60 ± 71.43 meters to 356.25 ± 85.72 meters significantly (P value = 0.002). The subjects perceived their shortness of breath decreased during 6 MWT at the end of study. The score decreased from 5.5 ± 1.5 to 4.5 ± 1.5 (P value=0.007).

Our preliminary results showed that reciting the Quran by tartil, which is compatible with religious culture, can increase the functional capacity of COPD patients. In reciting, the expiratory time and flow are adjusted to produce Quranic sounds. This might in turn reduce lung hyperinflation and air trapping. These changes cause an increase in the functional capacity of patients in terms of six-minute walk distance. In addition, a higher motivation of patients to perform such practical and functional exercises guaranties efficiency of such pulmonary rehabilitation in long term.