A Field Based Descriptive Pilot Study Of The Childrens OMNI RPE Scale For Children Age 9 To 12

Abstract

The Childrens OMNI RPE scale has been tested and validated in a laboratory setting but minimal research has been performed using this scale in the field. PURPOSE To perform a field based descriptive study using the Childrens OMNI RPE scale on a group of children to attempt to determine RPE correspondence to HR. METHODS Subjects (n=40) were 9 to 12 year old recreational league soccer players (22 males, 18 females; 10.23 ± 0.83 yrs). Subjects were instructed on interpretation of the Childrens OMNI RPE scale, then asked to rate their RPE from the scale for their feelings overall (O), legs (L), chest/breathing (C) during either a game or practice. HR was recorded via palpitation of radial or carotid pulse for 15 seconds then calculated to achieve 1 min HR. 28 of the subjects were asked more than once for a total of 73 data points. RESULTS Data is given in the table below, presented as number of responses and the average HR (sd) for each of the 10 points on the Childrens OMNI RPE scale for RPE-O, RPE-L, and RPE-C. Pearson Product correlations were HR-RPE O = 0.48, HR-RPE L = 0.31, HR-RPE C = 0.33.Table 1: RPE dataCONCLUSIONS These results indicate that when using the OMNI Childrens RPE scale to rate perceived exertion in a field setting, an RPE of 4 or above corresponds to an average HR of approximately 100 and 7 or above corresponds to a HR of greater than 125 bpm when rating overall feelings or legs. When rating chest/breathing an RPE of 6 corresponds to a HR of greater than 100.