Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of manual assessment of respiratory motion in patients with unilateral cervical radiculopathy: A cross-sectional study

Background: Altered breathing pattern is a consequence of dysfunctional breathing. The respiratory pattern might be impaired in patients with cervical radiculopathy due to the involvement of common nerve roots with the phrenic nerve (C3- C5). Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of a technique for evaluating the breathing pattern known as manual assessment of respiratory motion (MARM) in patients with unilateral cervical radiculopathy. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Rehabilitation Sciences Research Center Participants: Twenty-five patients with unilateral cervical radiculopathy aged 30-55 years participated in this study. Methods: Two experienced physical therapists investigated the respiratory pattern of the patients during normal and deep breathing using MARM, separately. Assessments were repeated again a week apart by each examiner. The inter- and intra-rater reliability of the MARM were calculated. Results: "Very good" inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were found with the MARM values during both normal and deep breathing patterns. (Inter-rater: ICC range = 0.71 to 0.82; intra-rater: ICC range = 0.72 to 0.80). Conclusions: MARM is a reliable clinical and research tool for assessing breathing patterns with very good interand intra-rater reliability in patients with unilateral cervical radiculopathy.