Validity and reliability of a Chinese rating of perceived exertion scale in young Mandarin speaking adults

BACKGROUND: The validity and reliability of the Borg 6–20 rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale has not been tested among Chinese people from Mainland China. The purpose of this study was to test: 1) The validity of Leung Chinese version and Wang Chinese version of the Borg 6–20 RPE scale; 2) The reliability of Wang Chinese version RPE scale; and 3) The agreement of these two Chinese versions of the RPE scale among young healthy adults from Mainland China. METHODS: A total of 26 subjects (11 males, 15 females; age 22.7 ± 3.0 yrs) volunteered to participate. They performed one (n = 3), two (n = 14), or three trials (n = 9) of the Bruce treadmill protocol test within 9.0 ± 5.1 days (validation trials), and 30.4 ± 27.9 days (reliability trials). Power output, heart rate, oxygen consumption, and RPE were recorded. RESULTS: RPE was significantly correlated with power output (Leung version rs ≥ 0.75, Wang version rs ≥ 0.73), heart rate (HR) (Leung version rs ≥ 0.84, Wang version rs ≥ 0.87), and oxygen consumption (VO(2)) (Leung version rs ≥ 0.80, Wang version rs ≥ 0.81) (all p < 0.01). The overall test-retest interclass correlation was 0.94 (p < 0.01). No significant differences in correlations (RPE against power output, HR and VO(2)) between trials existed for the reliability tests of Wang version scale. No significant differences in correlations (RPE against power output, HR and VO(2)) between the two Chinese versions of RPE scale existed. CONCLUSION: Both Chinese RPE scales are valid among young healthy Chinese mandarin speaking adults. The Wang scale is reliable, and the Leung and Wang scales show superior agreement with each other.