Validation of a OMNI RPE based 7-day recall questionnaire to assess session RPE

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to validate a 7-day post event recall questionnaire to rate the exertional intensity associated with a Session (Sess) of intermittent treadmill exercise. METHODS: Thirty four (22.6 ± 3 yrs), recreationally active subjects, (male=17, women=17), with no prior knowledge of the OMNI RPE scale participated in this study. Initially subjects underwent the following intermittent exercise bouts administered in counterbalanced order: Level Walk (LW; 2.5 mph), Hill Walk (HW; 3.5 mph, 5% Grade), and Run (R; 5.0 mph, 2.5% Grade). Seven days later, subjects were given the Effort Recall Questionnaire and asked to rate their exertional intensity using the OMNI RPE scale for the Overall Body (O), Legs (L), and Chest (C) corresponding to the entire exercise session. Subsequent to completing the Effort Recall Questionnaire, subjects were given standardized instructions for the OMNI RPE walk/run scale. Subjects then repeated LW, HW, and R, and the OMNI RPE associated with O, L, and C was recorded during each intermittent bout and calculated as a RPE-mean. Actual RPE-Sess (O, L, C) were obtained 5 minutes post exercise. RESULTS: A significant (p <0.05) positive correlation of 0.84 was found between actual RPE-Sess and the RPE-mean thus validating Session RPE. No significant differences between the recalled RPE-Sess (O, L, C) and the actual RPE-Sess (O, L, C) were found. Paired sample correlations demonstrated significant (p <0.05) positive relations between all Recalled RPE-Sess and Actual RPE-Sess. (Table 1)Table 1-C: orrelation values of Recalled RPE-Sess Vs Actual RPE-SessCONCLUSIONS: The results validated RPE-Sess for intermittent treadmill walking and running exercise. The main finding of this study is that RPE-Sess recalled seven days post exercise did not differ from the RPE-Sess recorded five minutes post exercise. This suggests that the recalled RPE-Sess is a valid measure of exertional perceptions experienced seven days earlier. The recalled RPE-Sess can be used as a part of a physical activity questionnaire in public health, athletic training and clinical settings.