Understanding the utility of the Breathing Pattern Assessment Tool in assessment of breathing pattern disorders (BrPD)

<bold>Background:</bold> Breathing pattern disorders (BrPDs) can lead to breathlessness and can amplify conditions like asthma. However, they are often undiagnosed due to assessment challenges. The Breathing Pattern Assessment Tool (BPAT) identifies BrPD with scores over 4. This study characterises BPAT, analysing how each of the 7 component affects the total score. <bold>Methods:</bold> We analysed routine care data from adult patients who underwent an assessment for asthma (including physiotherapy assessment). <bold>Results:</bold> Data were available for 150 patients (August 2014–February 2017). The cohort was predominantly female (69%) with a mean (SD) age of 43 (14) years and BMI at 32 (7) kg/m2. Patients were divided into groups: asthma (n=54, 36%), asthma+BrPD (n=63, 42%) and BrPD only (n=33, 22%). The BPAT score was significantly greater in groups with coexisting BrPD, with a median range of 6 (3-13, p>0.01) in the BrPD-only group and 5 (2-12, p>0.01) in the Asthma+BrPD group compared with 3 (0-10) in the asthma group. Individual components showed all components were also significantly different between the groups, although less significant in Respiratory Rate (Figure 1). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> The asthma group had significantly lower total scores and scores for components, compared to the groups with co-exsisting BrPD. The homogeneity of Respiratory Rate scores within each group highlights possible low specificity of the scoring ranges. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA621/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>