New scale to assess breathing movements of the chest and abdominal wall: preliminary reliability testing

[Purpose] Physical examinations for chest movements by inspection and palpation are poorly reproducible. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability of a new breathing movement scale for patients with respiratory diseases, in clinical practice. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-six patients with respiratory diseases were enrolled. BMS measurements were obtained during quiet breathing for 13 patients and during deep breathing for the other 13 patients. The BMS used to assess QB and DB movements of the upper chest, lower chest, and abdomen was based on a scale of −1 to 8. Scale values were measured while in the supine position using a pen-sized breathing movement-measuring device used by two raters during the same session. Scale values at five observation points and total values were recorded. A weighted Kappa coefficient and percentage agreement were used to assess inter-rater reliability with this BMS. [Results] The weighted Kappa coefficients during quiet and deep breathing had substantial to excellent strength of agreement (0.63–1.00) with percentage agreements of 31–100%. [Conclusion] Our results provide preliminary evidence to support the reliability of breathing movement scale measurements to assess breathing movements and chest and abdominal mobility for patients with respiratory diseases.