ИСТИНА

Introduction Dysfunctional breathing is a variety of breathing patterns that do not correspond to the physiological needs of the body, provoke many poly-systemic symptoms and can be caused by a combination of biological, social and psychological factors. At the subjective level, dysfunctional breathing is experienced as a feeling of "difficulty in breathing", which in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic may be similar to the symptoms of coronavirus infection (Taverne et al., 2021; Gavriatopoulou et al., 2020). Objective To examine the role of socio-demographic predictors in the prevalence of dysfunctional breathing in the Russian population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The author's socio-demographic questionnaire, the Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ) (Van Dixhoorn, Duivenvoordent, 1985), the STAI (Spielberger et al., 1983) and the "Perceived Stress Scale-10" (Ababkov et al., 2016; Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983) were used. The study was conducted online from April 27 to December 28, 2020. It was attended by 1,362 people from all regions of Russia, including 1,153 women and 209 men aged 15 to 88 years (38.3 ±11.4). Results In men, the average values for NQ (11.19±7.74) are lower than among women (18.73±9.96, Manna Whitney p=0.000), which corresponds to the presence of dysfunctional breathing (NQ>23) in 9.1% of men and 31% of women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Persons with incomplete higher education have a higher score on NQ (N=103, NQ=20.44±11.8) than persons with higher education (N=1051, NQ= 17.40±9.63, p=0.048) and candidates/doctors of sciences (N=97, NQ= 15.34±11.20, p=0.005). There was also a connection between the severity of dysfunctional breathing and the level of income, which is associated with a negative correlation between income level and perception of stress (r=-0.215, p=0.000), situational (r=-0.165, p=0.000) and personal anxiety (r=-0.127, p=0.000). There was also no connection with the age or type of settlement and the region of residence. Conclusions The severity of dysfunctional breathing in the Russian population during the pandemic is associated with gender, income levels and education. These findings can be used to identify a group of people who are most susceptible to the occurrence of dysfunctional breathing, and to organize individualized psychological assistance for them. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624.