Developing a consensus on the terminology and assessment of breathing pattern disorders

<bold>Background:</bold> Inconsistent nomenclature and assessment complicate understanding and treatment of breathing pattern disorders, hindering clinical and research progress. The study aimed to achieve consensus on acceptable terminology and provide a comprehensive assessment guide, with a 70% agreement threshold. <bold>Methods:</bold> Phase 1 involved a focus group of 10 physiotherapists and 1-1 interviews with 9 non-physiotherapy clinicians and 5 patients to explore opinions of terminology and assessment. Phase 2, a nominal group technique (NGT) was completed with 10 physiotherapists to gain consensus on: -What is your preferred term for this condition -What are the most important components to be included in all assessments <bold>Results:</bold> Framework analysis of phase 1 data informed stage 2 discussion. Consensus on "Breathing Pattern Disorder" (BrPD) reached (71%). (Table 1). A draft assessment guide was proposed following ranking of assessment components, endorsed by 1 physiotherapists. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Establishing a preferred term and a guide for assessment should provide clarity and consistency in future research and clinical care. <bold>Table 1: Ranking of Terminology in NGT</bold> <table-wrap><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA624/TB1</object-id><object-id>T1</object-id><object-id>TB1</object-id><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><bold>Round</bold></td><td><bold>1</bold></td><td><bold>2</bold></td><td><bold>Final</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Dysfunctional breathing</td><td>10</td><td>6</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Thoracic dominant Breathing</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Over breathing</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><bold>Breathing pattern disorder</bold></td><td><bold>11</bold></td><td><bold>11</bold></td><td><bold>8 (73%)</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Air hunger</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Medically unexplained breathlessness</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Breathing pattern dysfunction</td><td>8</td><td>11</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Deep breathing</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Apical breathing</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sighing dyspnea</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Thoraco-abdominal asynchrony</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hyperventilation</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Psychogenic breathing</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Disorded breathing</td><td>3</td><td>4</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Functional breathing</italic></td><td></td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Disrupted breathing</italic></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Primary BrPD</italic></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Secondary BrPD</italic></td><td></td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Thoraco-abdominal asynchrony</italic></td><td></td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><italic>Breathlessness</italic></td><td></td><td>0</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap> <italic>second round terms</italic>