Overview

• Researchers enrolled 101 adults in Australia with chronic breathlessness from COPD or interstitial lung disease, randomizing 50 to a 12‑week, therapist‑led Zoom singing program and 51 to usual care.
• Participants in the singing arm reported SF‑36 scores averaging 7.4 points higher than controls, with an 11‑point advantage for those attending at least eight sessions, which investigators called clinically important.
• Signals of greater benefit emerged for women, people with anxiety or depression, and those who had not previously completed pulmonary rehabilitation.
• The sessions combined warmups, breathing exercises, group singing and social check‑ins, and the study reduced access barriers by loaning iPads and providing data plans.
• External experts and patient advocates said the results support non‑drug adjuncts to care and urged further trials to clarify mechanisms and pathways to embed singing programs in services.