Perception of effort in the assessment of work capacity and the regulation of the intensity of effort

Abstract

The value of overall and differentiated ratings of perceived exertion (RPE)is discussed in the context of assessing working capacity and regulating the intensity of effort to avoid injury. Information is drawn from studies in both industrial and therapeutic settings. The average RPE at any given fraction of a task-specific peak power outputs is surrisingly consistent across a range of variables, including age, sex, muscle mass, environmental conditions other than heat and sleep deprivation, drugs and disease. However, the practical value of RPE, either in assessing the physical condition of an individual worker or in regulating the intensity of that individual's effort is limited by a large inter-individual variation in reported perceptions, and a substantial impact of cognitive factors in manual lifting tasks. Greater consistency of ratings might be possible with a deliberate learning of procedures. Combined assessments based on heart and RPE could also improve precision. However, the main value of the RPE will probably remain the classifying of industrial tasks, and the fine-tuning of an individual's intensity of effort that has already been established by some other method such as the timed completion of a known task.