Dysfunctional breathing is characterised by an abnormal breathing pattern leading to respiratory symptoms. The 25-item Self Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire (SEBQ) has been developed to measure breathing-related symptoms and their severity but lacks thorough evaluation. To determine reproducibility, internal consistency and predictors of SEBQ score, 180 participants completed an online SEBQ with additional demographic and lifestyle questions. Two weeks later, 155 of those repeated SEBQ. Test-retest correlation of the SEBQ was high [intraclass correlation coefficient (3, 1) = 0.89; 95 % CI 0.85-0.92]. There was no difference in SEBQ score between test and retest (15.1 (11.6) [mean (SD)] versus 14.7 (12.4); P = 0.4) and the score showed a typical error (standard error of measurement) of 4.0. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's α = 0.93), and a single factor structure for items was shown. Smoking status, reported respiratory disease, recent respiratory illness and female gender were positively-associated predictors of SEBQ score, and together explained 25.6 % of score variance (P ≤ 0.001). The SEBQ has high test-retest reproducibility and its score may be predicted by current smoking, chronic respiratory disease, recent respiratory illness and female gender, thus may be a useful clinical screening tool for dysfunctional breathing.
Keywords: Abnormal breathing pattern disorders; Breathing dysfunction; Breathing symptom questionnaire; Hyperventilation; Reproducibility; Test–retest reliability.
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