OMNI Scale of Perceived Exertion: mixed gender and race validation for Singapore children during cycle exercise

The children’s OMNI Scale of Perceived Exertion (RPE) has not been validated for children of Asian origin. The purpose was to validate the RPE for Singapore children, 12–15 years. 81 children of male and female of Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicities participated in the study. A cross-sectional, perceptual estimation paradigm using a multistage cycle ergometer protocol was used. Oxygen consumption (\( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2} \); ml min⁻¹), heart rate (HR; beats min⁻¹), and RPE for the Overall body (RPE-O), Legs (RPE-L), and Chest (RPE-C) were determined at the end of each continuously administered 3-min power output stage (PO) starting at 25 W with 25 W increments until exhaustion. For validation, linear regression analysis for all PO revealed that RPE-O, RPE-L, and RPE-C for each of the six gender–race and combined cohort distributed as positive linear functions of both \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2} \) (ml min⁻¹, ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹) and HR (beats min⁻¹). All regression functions were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Differences between undifferentiated (RPE-O) and differentiated (RPE-L and RPE-C) at each PO stage were examined separately for the male (up to PO 8 [200 W]) and female (up to PO 5 [125 W]) cohorts. For the males, RPE-L was greater (P < 0.05) than both RPE-C and RPE-O only at PO 8. For the females, RPE-O was greater (P < 0.05) than RPE-C only at PO 3 and 4. OMNI Scale validity was established for male and female Asian children of Chinese, Malay, and Indian origin. Male and female children did not perceive the intensity of exertional perceptions to differ between the legs and the chest. As there were no differences between the undifferentiated and differentiated perceptual responses, a dominant signal was not observed.