Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the 'Breathing Vigilance Questionnaire'

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the 'Breathing Vigilance Questionnaire'

In the literature, assessment questionnaires related to dyspnea measure beliefs about breathing-related symptoms but do not directly measure breath awareness. For this purpose, the Breath Vigilance Questionnaire (BVQ) is a subjective questionnaire developed from the Pain Awareness Questionnaire that directly measures breath-specific awareness and includes questions evaluating the interaction between conscious monitoring and control of breathing and anxiety. The questionnaire, consisting of 6 questions, was developed on healthy individuals and its validity and reliability were established. It uses a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always), with scores ranging from 6 to 30, and higher scores indicate higher breath awareness .

The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Breath Vigilance Questionnaire will assist researchers in assessing dysfunctional breathing and developing treatment strategies by evaluating breath awareness. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version.

The normal breathing pattern is a synchronized movement progressing from the thorax to the abdominal region, including the pelvis. Any breathing pattern outside of this synchronized movement is called an abnormal breathing pattern or dysfunctional breathing. In recent years, it has been defined as "a change in the normal biomechanical patterns of breathing resulting in intermittent or chronic symptoms related to breathing and/or non-breathing". A 2018 study reported that it was observed more frequently in up to 50% of COPD patients than in asthmatic and healthy individuals. However, it has been reported that respiratory dysfunction can also be observed idiopathically, without any underlying problem (cardiopulmonary or organic cause), and is seen in one out of every five people, due to psychological/behavioral factors such as anxiety, depression, perfectionism, feelings of inferiority.

Inclusion Criteria:

• individuals without a self-reported diagnosis of respiratory and/or cardiac problems
• individuals without a COVID-19 diagnosis and/or chronic COVID syndrome ("long COVID") within the last 3 months (primary respiratory dysfunction is excluded as we are dealing with this)
• individuals who can read and write in Turkish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals with symptomatic heart disease, a history of lung surgery, neurological disorders, and malignancies that may affect exercise performance, and those with severe cognitive impairment who have difficulty understanding and completing the questionnaire items will be excluded from the study.