Repeatability, Reproducibility, and Concurrent Validity of a Stethoscope and Health App System for the Quantification of Breath Rate in Healthy Adults: Repeatability and Validity Study

Abstract

Background Apps for smartphones that can measure the breathing rate easily can be downloaded. Objective The aim of this study was to demonstrate agreement in measuring breath rates between the stethoscope and Breath Counter health app. Methods We performed a repeatability study with 56 healthy volunteers. The patient’s demographic data and breathing rates per minute were collected. Breathing rates were measured via two methods: (1) using a stethoscope placed in the upper area of the right lung and (2) a Breath Counter app developed by Vadion on a Samsung Fold smartphone. Results This study demonstrated high repeatability and validity with respect to the breathing rate parameter of healthy adults using the aforementioned 2 systems. Intrasession repeatability measure using the intraclass correlation coefficient was >0.962, indicating excellent repeatability. Moreover, the intraclass correlation coefficient between methods was 0.793, indicating good repeatability, and coefficients of variation of method errors values were 1.83% with very low values in terms of other repeatability parameters. We found significant correlation coefficients and no systematic differences between the app and stethoscope methods. Conclusions The app method may be attractive to individuals who require repeatability in a recreational setting.