Tools

Self-Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire (SEBQ)

25 statements about how your breathing feels: the breathing-specific companion to the Nijmegen questionnaire

The Self-Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire was developed by osteopath and breathing researcher Rosalba Courtney with Kenneth Greenwood and first published in 2009 as a 17-item version; the 25-item version here is the one used in later studies. Where the Nijmegen questionnaire was written for hyperventilation and includes tingling, palpitations, and anxiety, the SEBQ asks only about breathing: whether it feels shallow, restricted, effortful, irregular, or unsatisfying. That makes it better at picking up the sense of restricted, effortful breathing, which the Nijmegen largely misses.

You rate each of 25 statements from 0 (never / not true at all) to 3 (very frequently / very true), for a total of 0–75. The 2016 reliability study by Mitchell and colleagues found the questionnaire very consistent over two weeks (ICC 0.89) and an average score of about 15 among the 180 people who took part. No validated cut-off exists: a score of 25 or more has been used in research on expert opinion, but it has not been checked against a diagnosis.

The questionnaire is presented in two pages of 12–13 statements and takes about five minutes. If you have not done the Nijmegen questionnaire, the two together give a fuller picture: the Nijmegen for the systemic symptoms of over-breathing, the SEBQ for the breathing sensations themselves.

This is not a diagnostic tool. Breathlessness has many causes, including cardiac and lung disease that need investigation in their own right. A high SEBQ score suggests that assessment of breathing pattern by a respiratory physiotherapist may be worthwhile; it does not establish a diagnosis of breathing pattern disorder or exclude anything else. Discuss your results with your doctor. Based on: Courtney R, Greenwood KM. Preliminary investigation of a measure of dysfunctional breathing symptoms: the Self Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire (SEBQ). Int J Osteopath Med. 2009;12(4):121–127; and Mitchell AJ, Bacon CJ, Moran RW. Reliability and determinants of Self-Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire (SEBQ) score. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2016;41(1):111–120. The questionnaire is the work of its authors; this page is an interactive scoring aid for personal, non-commercial use.
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For each statement, choose how often it applies to you, or how true it is of your breathing, as things generally are for you at the moment.

1. I get easily breathless out of proportion to my fitness

2. I notice myself breathing shallowly

3. I get short of breath reading and talking

4. I notice myself sighing

5. I notice myself yawning

6. I feel I cannot get a deep or satisfying breath

7. I notice that I am breathing irregularly

8. My breathing feels stuck or restricted

9. My ribcage feels tight and cannot expand

10. I notice myself breathing quickly

11. I get breathless when I'm anxious

12. I find myself holding my breath

13. I feel breathless in association with other physical symptoms

Understanding your SEBQ score

What the score measures

The Self-Evaluation of Breathing Questionnaire measures how often you notice breathing sensations linked with dysfunctional breathing, such as breathlessness out of proportion to effort, sighing, and shallow, restricted or unsatisfying breaths. You rate 25 statements from 0 (never or not true at all) to 3 (very frequently or very true), giving a total from 0 to 75. Higher means more breathing symptoms.

A 17-statement first version was tested in 83 adults (Courtney and Greenwood 2009). The 25-statement version was very consistent when repeated two weeks apart, and smoking, respiratory disease, a recent respiratory illness and being female were linked with higher scores (Mitchell et al. 2016).

Score bands

No normal range or validated cut-off has been established. In a 2016 study of 180 people who completed the questionnaire online, the average was 15.1, with wide variation (standard deviation 11.6). A score of 25 or more has been used in research on the basis of expert opinion, but a 2026 review notes that it has not been verified.

The study that used 25 said plainly that no cut-off had been established (Kiesel et al. 2017), so this page does not sort scores into bands. Compare your total with your own earlier results.

What a change in score means

No minimal important change has been published. When people repeated it two weeks apart, their scores were very consistent, with a typical error of about 4 points, so a difference of a few points between two results may just be noise. Small studies have shown scores falling after breathing treatment. Look for a steady trend across several results.

What it does not measure

No. It measures breathing symptoms, not how you breathe, and a 2026 review recommends treating it as a complement to other assessment rather than as a diagnostic test. Breathlessness has many causes, including heart and lung disease, which need investigating in their own right.

The Nijmegen questionnaire was designed for hyperventilation and includes symptoms beyond breathing, such as tingling, palpitations and anxiety. The SEBQ asks only about breathing. In its development study, its items fell into two groups: lack of air, which overlaps with the Nijmegen, and a sense of restricted or inappropriate breathing, which does not. That second group is what the SEBQ adds.

The Nijmegen questionnaire covers the wider symptoms. The breathing pattern disorder versus autonomic breathlessness explainer covers the overlap with POTS, and diaphragmatic breathing describes one approach to retraining.

Taking this to your GP or consultant

Bring the total, the date, the statements you rated 2 or 3, your Nijmegen score if you have one, and the trend from your saved results. Describe it as a 25-item research questionnaire about breathing sensations. It can support a request for referral to a respiratory physiotherapist. Breathlessness that is new, worsening or severe, or comes with chest pain, swelling or low oxygen readings, needs a medical assessment whatever the score. See preparing for a GP appointment.

Sources