Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science

ISSN: 1091-367X (Print) 1532-7841 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hmpe20

Initial Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese

Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion 6-20 Scale

Luana L. Cabral, Fábio Y. Nakamura, Joice M. F. Stefanello, Luiz C. V. Pessoa,

Bruno P. C. Smirmaul & Gleber Pereira

To cite this article: Luana L. Cabral, Fábio Y. Nakamura, Joice M. F. Stefanello, Luiz C. V.
Pessoa, Bruno P. C. Smirmaul & Gleber Pereira (2020): Initial Validity and Reliability of the
Portuguese Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion 6-20 Scale, Measurement in Physical Education and
Exercise Science, DOI: 10.1080/1091367X.2019.1710709

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2019.1710709

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MEASUREMENT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2019.1710709

Initial Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese Borg Rating of Perceived

Exertion 6-20 Scale
Luana L. Cabral a, Fábio Y. Nakamura b,c, Joice M. F. Stefanello a
, Luiz C. V. Pessoad,
Bruno P. C. Smirmaul e, and Gleber Pereira a
a
Physical Education Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil; bThe College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University,
Townsville, Australia; cAssociate Graduate Program in Physical Education UPE/UFPB, João Pessoa, Brazil; dHospital das Nações, Curitiba, Brazil;
e
Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Educação, Rio Claro, Brazil

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
The aims of this study were to perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Borg Rating of Cross-cultural Adaptation;
Perceived Exertion (RPE) 6–20 Scale to Brazilian Portuguese language and to start testing its Perception of Effort; Heart
validity and reliability. After performing the cross-cultural adaptation of the Scale, concurrent and Rate; Oxygen Consumption;
discriminative validity, and reliability were determined on a treadmill in young (18–30 years) and Borg Scale
older adult women (60–75 years). Considering young and older adult women, RPE presented high
and moderate positive correlation with heart rate and high and low positive correlation with
oxygen consumption, respectively. Older adult women presented RPE (11 ± 2) significantly higher
than young ones (8 ± 1) exercising at the same absolute intensity. Intraclass coefficient correlation
was excellent for RPE to young and older adult women. The Scale presented concurrent validity
only to young adult women, whereas it presented discriminative validity between such groups of
women. Moreover, the scale is reliable to young and older adult women.

Introduction on how to complete it so as to increase the under-

standing of its characteristics and accuracy of the mea-
The 15-point Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale
surement (Borg, 1998).
(Borg RPE 6–20) was the first scale developed for
Currently, the RPE is ubiquitous in its use within the
assessing perceived exertion (Borg, 1971). “A percep-
fields of physical activity, exercise, and sports (Barnett,
tion of how hard and strenuous a physical task is”
2013). Due to its low cost, easy application and under-
(Borg, 1962, 1970) is the definition of perceived exer-
standing among different populations (Borg, 1998;
tion, which is a psycho-physiological measure whose
Faulkner & Eston, 2008), the Borg RPE 6–20 is one of
objective is quantifying the subjective perceived exer-
the most widely used scales of this kind, with countless
tion originating throughout all the bodily systems
applications for individuals of different ages and in varied
(Borg, 1998; Smirmaul, 2012). The theoretical founda-
settings where accurate quantification of perceived exer-
tion of the scale is based on the RPE relationship with
cise intensity is needed (Chen, Fan, & Moe, 2002). Over
heart rate (Borg, 1971) and oxygen consumption (Borg,
time, the Borg RPE 6–20 Scale has been used somewhat
1977), which are physiological measures of exertion.
arbitrarily or in an unstandardized way in research and
The RPE scale ranges from 6 to 20, with identical
professional settings across many countries, including
distances interspersing the numbers, each gradually
Brazil. For instance, it is common to find arbitrarily
related to the respondent’s perceived exertion level
colored scales, as well as varied terms and instructions
(Borg, 1970). The scale also includes verbal descriptors,
used by practitioners without a correct validation process
related to their respective numerical categories and
(NMSU, https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_i/I112/welcome.
created from quantitative semantics, allowing indivi-
html; Trek Education, https://exercise.trekeducation.org/
duals to accurately rate themselves and permitting
assessment/borg-scale-rpe/; Cardio High, http://cardio
comparisons of exertion levels between individuals or
high.com/using-the-borg-scale-to-measure-intensity/). In
for the same individual at different moments (e.g., pre-
addition, there has been debate in the literature related
versus post-training) (Noble & Robertson, 1996). The
to the semantics and definitions, underlying concepts and
RPE 6–20 scale is accompanied by detailed instructions
varied instructions used while implementing the Borg

CONTACT Luana L. Cabral luanalcabral@yahoo.com.br Physical Education Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.
© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 L. L. CABRAL ET AL.
RPE 6–20 Scale (Abbiss, Peiffer, Meeusen, & Skorski,
2015; Faulkner & Eston, 2008; Pageaux, 2016). Thus,
scale instruction and its correct use are essential since
these elements impact directly on what will be reported
by the respondents to the scale. Furthermore, valid and
reliable data collection procedures using the scale will
positively influence the knowledge dissemination in the
area of exercise science (Pageaux, 2016; Pereira, de Souza,
Reichert, & Smirmaul, 2014).
Using a scale in cultures that differ from the one in
which the scale was originally created requires the
cross-cultural adaptation, which encompasses many
issues that are related to both language translation
and cultural adaptation of the instrument (Beaton,
Bombardier, Guillemin, & Ferraz, 2000). A cross-
cultural adaptation procedure is highly recommended
to maintain the scale’s underlying construct and to test
the scale’s validity (accuracy) and reliability (consis-
tency) when used in different linguistic versions with
respondents from different cultures (Guillemin,
Bombardier, & Beaton, 1993). A recent review article
(Cabral, Lopes, Wolf, Stefanello, & Pereira, 2017)
reported that Borg RPE 6–20 Scale was found to have
been cross-culturally adapted to Cantonese (Leung,
Leung, & Chung, 2004) and Japanese languages
(Onodera & Miyashita, 1976). However, users in several
countries have translated the scale into their own
respective languages without relying upon an empiri-
cally supported cross-cultural adaption process, includ-
ing, for example, Spain (López-Miñarro & Muyor
Rodríguez, 2010; Muyor, 2013) and Germany (Baildon
& Ulmer, 1994; Lollgen, Ulmer, & Nieding, 1977). The
cross-cultural adaptation of the Borg RPE 6–20 Scale is
also required for the Brazilian Portuguese language and
culture, as many researchers using the scale (Afonso
et al., 2006; Mazzoccante et al., 2014; Neves & Doimo,
2007) have cited the original book of Gunnar Borg in
either English (Borg, 1998) or Portuguese languages
(Borg, 2000), although the book’s translators of the
Portuguese version have not followed the empirical
procedures of proper cross-cultural adaptation.
After performing a translation and cross-cultural
adaptation of an instrument, researchers must check the
psychometric properties of the new version (i.e., validity
and reliability) to be confident of the altered scale’s readi-
ness for use as intended (Shohamy, 1994). Psychometric
evaluations of adapted versions of the Borg RPE 6–20
Scale in different languages have found high concurrent
validity, through correlations with heart rate and oxygen
consumption, and reliability levels (Leung et al., 2004;
Onodera & Miyashita, 1976). Hence, it is reasonable to
hypothesize that the Brazilian Portuguese version will
also present acceptable concurrent validity and reliability.
In the context of testing individuals with different
physical fitness levels at the same absolute exercise inten-
sity, the RPE may be a useful tool to differentiate them.
For instance, a person presenting lower maximal aerobic
power would expend greater effort, due to higher oxygen
consumption and heart rate in percentage of the max-
imum, compared with a person with a higher maximal
aerobic power. Thus, a person with a higher aerobic
power percentage would be more prone to perceive
greater fatigability, reporting higher RPE, than a person
with a lower aerobic power percentage. Moreover, the
RPE at fixed exercise intensity has increased with aging
(Borg & Linderholm, 1967). Hence, we hypothesize that
the Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale will present discri-
minative construct validity between young adult women
and older ones, who have different aerobic power levels.
Therefore, the aims of this study were to perform
a cross-cultural adaptation of the Borg RPE 6–20 Scale
(and its accompanying instructions) into the Brazilian
Portuguese language and to start the process of testing
the validity (concurrent and discriminative) and the
reliability of this adapted scale among young adult
women and older ones. This study will support profes-
sionals and researchers in the subsequent use of
a properly adapted version of the RPE 6–20 scale,
ensuring the accurate measurement of perceived exer-
tion and allowing it to be used comparatively with
other studies dependent upon perception of effort.
Method
Study design
This study was developed in two stages. First, the pro-
cesses of cross-cultural adaptation, verification of content
validity and pretesting (pilot study) of the Borg RPE 6–20
Scale and its accompanying instructions were
developed. Second, the process of testing the concurrent
and discriminative validity, and reliability of the adapted
Borg RPE 6–20 Scale among young and older Brazilian
adult women were started. All participants of this study
were Brazilian natives as will be detailed below. The
Research Ethics Committee approved the experimental
procedures (process number 66254117.0.0000.5223) and
all participants signed a consent form agreeing to parti-
cipate before starting the study.
First stage
Cross-cultural adaptation
The author of the Borg RPE 6–20 Scale gave copyright
authorization to permit this cross-cultural adaptation
(Supplemental online material). The original Borg RPE
 MEASUREMENT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
6–20 Scale used in the present study was the latest
version published by Gunnar Borg in the book Borg’s
Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales (Borg, 1998).
The cross-cultural adaptation procedures are pre-
sented in Figure 1, as previously suggested by other
authors (Beaton et al., 2000; Pasquali, 2010). Two bilin-
gual Full Professors in the field of health sciences indi-
vidually translated the original English version of the
scale and its instructions into the Portuguese language.
The two translated versions were then synthesized by
a committee that produced a unified, translated
Portuguese Scale. Subsequently, two bilingual Full
Professors translated the new Portuguese version of
the scale back to English (Brislin, 1970) to confirm
that this second English version had the same content
as the original English scale (Beaton et al., 2000). These
two English versions were then synthesized into
a single new version, mirroring the earlier process
with the Portuguese version.
Afterward, the committee checked the semantic,
idiomatic, conceptual and cultural equivalences
between the original English and the Portuguese Borg
RPE 6–20 Scales. The scales and their accompanying
instructions were divided into four parts: (a) initial
instruction; (b) verbal anchors of the numerical scale;
(c) verbal definitions of items 9, 13, 17 and 19 RPE; and
(d) final scale instructions. All four parts were then
evaluated by the committee for their equivalence
Figure 1. Cross-cultural adaptation process performed in the first stage.
3
using a Likert Scale from 1 to 4 (1 = not equivalent;
2 = need great revision to be equivalent; 3 = need small
revision to be equivalent and; 4 = equivalent) (Beaton
et al., 2000). Thus, a pre-final Portuguese version of the
scale was completed.
Content validity
The content validity procedure was based on Pasquali
(2010) approach. In the invitation letter, the experts
received explanations about the theory of Borg RPE
6–20 scale, the aims of the study and the instrument to
be evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale, rated from 1
(very poor) to 5 (very good) (Pasquali, 2010). Eleven
experts evaluated the content validity of the pre-final
version of the Portuguese scale and instruction about
clarity of language, practical pertinence, and theoretical
relevance. To evaluate the clarity of language, each
expert answered the question “Considering the language
of the instrument and the feature of the respondent, do
you believe that the language is sufficiently clear, under-
standable and appropriate for these populations? At
what level?”. The practical pertinence was evaluated
through the question “Considering that the instrument
is relevant to evaluate the RPE concept in a specific
population, do you believe that the proposed instrument
is relevant to these populations? At what level?”.
Theoretical relevance was assessed through the question
“Considering the relationship between the instrument
4 L. L. CABRAL ET AL.
and the RPE theory, do you believe that the content of
this instrument represents either what is to be measured
or its dimension, considering the theory in question? At
what level?”. The indicators of the Content Validity
Coefficient (CVC) should present agreement ≥80%
among the experts considering a CVC ≥ 0.80
(Hernandez-Nieto, 2002).
Pretesting
Pretesting was performed to observe the viability and clarity
of the instrument, and it was the last stage to make changes
in the structure of the Portuguese scale (Pasquali, 2010).
Twenty women (young adults, n = 14; 24 ± 3 years; 64 ±
6.9 kg; 168 ± 4.6 cm; older adults, n = 6; 67 ± 3 years; 73 ±
9.3 kg; 158 ± 2.2 cm) reported their perceived exertion
using the newly developed Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20
scale during an incremental test on a treadmill (see famil-
iarization protocol description in the rating of perceived
exertion section). The Borg RPE 6–20 scale and its accom-
panying instructions were presented and explained during
a 10-minute period preceding the incremental treadmill
test. After the test, participants were asked to point out
any difficulty they noticed regarding the clarity of the
language and the understanding of the scale. In addition,
the participants were asked to freely suggest/write changes
in the instrument. Once the participants neither reported
difficulty in understanding the scale nor a need for chan-
ging it, the final consolidated Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20
Scale was ready to be used in the second stage of the study
(see Figure 2).
Second stage
Participants
The sample size was calculated a priori, based on
previous study that used similar procedures and
populations (Serafim et al., 2014), considering effect
size = 0.69, α = 0.05 and power = 0.80, the sample
size was 9 participants to each group. To increase the
statistical power of the study, 30 Brazilian women (16
young adults, 23.6 ± 4.3 years; 62.7 ± 8.4 kg; 1.67 cm;
and 14 older adults, 68.0 ± 4.0 years; 67.5 ± 9.8 kg;
1.56 ± 0.05 cm) participated in the second stage of
this study. A physician performed a health evaluation
in the participants to determine their inclusion in
this study. The inclusion criterion was the participant
being considered active physically, as determined by
IPAQ short version questionnaire (Benedetti, Mazo,
& De Barros, 2004; Craig et al., 2003). The exclusion
criteria were the use of orthoses or walking sticks,
untreated cardiovascular disease and any post-
surgical treatment.
Experimental design
Data collection was performed in four different days. In the
first day, the participants attended the clinical evaluation
followed by physical activity level questionnaire (Matsudo
et al., 2001) and anthropometric measures. In the second
day, i.e., familiarization session, young adult women (18 to
30 years) performed a maximal incremental treadmill test
(Eston et al., 2012), whereas older adult women (60 to 75
years) performed a submaximal incremental treadmill test
(Smith, Eston, Norton, & Parfitt, 2015). In addition, parti-
cipants were familiarized with the Portuguese Borg RPE
6–20 Scale (as detailed below). Two days after, the test
session (i.e., third day) was performed including two testing
protocols. First, a submaximal continuous treadmill test
with the same absolute speed was applied for both women
groups, in order to verify discriminative construct validity
[i.e., the degree to which a measure can discriminate
between groups known to differ with regard to the focal
construct (Polit, 2015; Streiner, Norman, & Cairney, 2015)]
of Borg RPE 6–20 Scale. Then, after 5 minutes resting, the
specific incremental treadmill test was applied to the parti-
cipants according to their groups. After 7 days, the retest
session (i.e., fourth day) was performed following identical
procedures of the test session, as well as previously sug-
gested (Pasquali, 2010; Streiner et al., 2015) and performed
(Chung, Zhao, Liu, & Quach, 2015; Leung et al., 2004;
Rigoni, Nascimento, Belem, Vieira, & MacDonald, 2018).
The test and retest sessions were used to determine tem-
poral stability (reliability) of the RPE. Physiological para-
meters (heart rate, HR; oxygen consumption, V̇ O2) were
measured in the test and the retest sessions, and the data
from the incremental tests were used to determine the
concurrent validity of the scale. The same researcher con-
ducted all evaluations.
Rating of perceived exertion
Before each test, the perceived exertion was defined to the
participant as “a perception of how hard and strenuous
a physical task is” (Borg, 1962, 1970). Then, a standard set
of instructions regarding the use of the scale was developed
with more recent procedures (Lagally & Costigan, 2004;
Noble & Robertson, 1996; Utter et al., 2004), such as, before
the exercise test, participants read the scale and its instruc-
tions developed by Borg (Borg, 1998). Then, the researcher
read and explained the standard instructions of how to
correctly complete the scale that was anchored using mem-
ory and exercise procedures (Noble & Robertson, 1996).
Memory anchoring were developed when the researcher
first explained the minimum (i.e., 6) and the maximum (i.e.,
20) RPE for overall body related to exercise on the treadmill,
followed by examples of 7 and 19 RPE values for overall
body for walking and/or running. Then, the intermediate
rates (9, 13 and 17 RPE) were also explained and
 MEASUREMENT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
Figure 2. Portuguese Borg 6–20 RPE Scale.
exemplified to the participants following the instructions of
the scale (see details in Appendix). These procedures should
guarantee that the participant established a range of sensa-
tion they have experienced in life (i.e., memory recall)
(Eston, Coquart, Lamb, & Parfitt, 2015; Lagally &
Costigan, 2004). The exercise anchoring was also per-
formed when participant performed the familiarization
session and experienced RPE ranging from 7 to 19 on the
scale. Participants pointed their RPE value on the scale
during the tests, since the mouthpiece prevented
a verbalized response (Utter et al., 2004). In this way, the
5
anchoring procedures should assist the participants to have
a reference of the extremities and intermediate rates of the
Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale to subsequently obtain
correct and referenced ratings (Eston et al., 2015). This
procedure minimizes the error of response, mainly in
older adults who may have difficulty in understanding
and classifying the RPE.
Experimental protocol
The tests were performed on a motorized treadmill
(Imbramed®, Master Super ATL model, Sao Paulo,
Brazil). A heart monitor (Polar® FT7) measured the
HR during all tests. A portable gas analyzer model K4
b2 (Cosmed, Rome, Italy) was used to measure breath-
by-breath oxygen consumption. Prior to each test, the
gas analyzer was calibrated with standard gases using
a gas mixture of 16.0% oxygen and 5.0% carbon diox-
ide. A flexible mask was placed over the participant’s
mouth and nose and attached to the flow meter during
the tests.
The submaximal continuous test for both groups con-
sisted of 5-min walking at 5.1 km.h−1 applied at the begin-
ning of test and retest sessions. This exercise intensity is
equivalent to 3.3 metabolic equivalent tasks that represent
the moderate speed of occupational activities (Ainsworth
et al., 2000). The RPE and the average of V̇ O2 and HR
during the last 30 seconds of the test duration were con-
sidered for posterior analysis.
The submaximal incremental treadmill test for older
adult women was performed according to the protocol
proposed by Smith et al. (2015), in which the participant
warmed-up at 4 km.h−1 during 3 minutes. Then, the speed
was set at 5.3 km.h−1 with 0% of slope. One percent of slope
was increased every minute until 10%, and the speed was
increased 0.5 km.h−1 until participant reported RPE equal
to 17 or stopped voluntarily. The predicted V̇ O2peak
(V̇ O2peakpred) was based on V̇ O2 and HR relationship, in
which each workload stage was extrapolated to an indivi-
dual’s age-predicted maximal HR (HRmaxpred = 206.9 – [age
x 0.67]) (Gellish et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2015).
The maximum incremental treadmill test for young
adult women was based on a modified protocol of
Eston et al. (2012). Participant warmed-up at 5 km.
h−1 during 3 minutes and started the test at 6 km.h−1
with 1% of slope; afterward, there was 1 km.h−1 incre-
ment every 2 minutes of exercise. The V̇ O2peak was
determined when two or more of the following criteria
were met: an increase in oxygen consumption of
<150 mL.min−1; respiratory exchange ratio ≥1.1; max-
imum heart rate (HRmax) within ±10 bpm of the pre-
dicted maximal (i.e., 220-age); maximal voluntary
6 L. L. CABRAL ET AL.
exhaustion. The RPE and the average of V̇ O2 and HR
measured in the last 30 seconds of each incremental
stage, for submaximal and maximal tests, were used in
subsequent analyses.
Statistical analysis
Content validity was verified by calculating the CVC of
clarity of language, practical pertinence and theoretical
relevance of the Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale
(Pasquali, 2010). After checking data normality and homo-
geneity of variance using Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests,
respectively, the concurrent validity was verified by
Pearson’s correlation of RPE with HR and %V̇ O2peak in
each incremental test and retest. The Pearson’s correlation
classification ranged from very low (r = 0.0–0.29), low (r =
0.3–0.49), moderate (r = 0.5–0.69), high (r = 0.7–0.89) to
very high (0.9–1.00) (Hinkle, Wiersma, & Jurs, 2003).
Reliability was verified by Intraclass Correlation
Coefficient (ICC) of each variable (RPE, HR, and V̇ O2)
between incremental test and retest sessions for each
group, individually. In addition, the ICC of RPE was calcu-
lated between continuous test and retest sessions. The
classification of ICC ranged from poor (.0–0.39), fair (0.4–-
0.59), good (0.6–0.74) to excellent (0.75–1.00) (Cicchetti,
1994). Data were pooled and paired for concurrent validity
and reliability analysis. The discriminative construct valid-
ity was verified by comparing groups, using independent
t-test for RPE, %HRmax and %V̇ O2peak obtained from con-
tinuous tests. Effect size was verified through Cohen’s d,
considering small (≤0.2), medium (≤0.5) and large (≤0.8)
effects (Nakagawa & Cuthill, 2007; Rosenthal, 1994). Data
analysis was performed using SPSS software and it was
accepted a statistical significance level at P < .05. Data are
reported as Mean ± Standard Deviation.
Results
First stage
Cross-cultural adaptation
Comparing the Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale of the
present study with the scale in the book also published in
Portuguese (Borg, 2000), the committee observed imprecise
terms in the book version. The verbal descriptor “hard” in
the original scale was adapted to “difficult” (“difícil”) in the
present study, whereas this descriptor was translated to
“intense” (“intenso”) in the book version (Borg, 2000).
The verbal descriptor “difficult” was chosen by representing
the correct meaning of “hard” in Portuguese, avoiding
misinterpretation of perceived exertion during the
evaluation.
Content validity
The specialists suggested that the terms “underestimating”
(“subestimar”) and “overestimating” (“superestimar”) seem
to have ambiguity in the Portuguese scale and they indi-
cated that older adult women might have difficulty to
understand these instructions. Thus, they recommended
“higher” (“maior”) and “lower” (“menor”) terms. In addi-
tion, the specialists suggested that “Escala de Esforço
Percebido” (“Perceived Exertion Scale”) should be the
name of the Portuguese scale.
The CVC for clarity of language (0.87), practical perti-
nence (0.92) and theoretical relevance (0.97) presented
values above 0.80 for all indicators, as previously recom-
mended (Pasquali, 2010). In the pretesting of the
Portuguese RPE 6–20 Scale, the participants did not
report/write any difficulty in understanding the instrument,
confirming the feasibility and clarity of the scale. The
Portuguese Borg 6–20 RPE Scale and accompanying
instruction are presented in the Appendix.
Second stage
Concurrent and discriminative validity, and reliability
Regarding the concurrent validity, the RPE was signifi-
cantly, highly and positively correlated with HR in young
adult women, while the correlation in older adult women
was significant, moderate and positive. The RPE was sig-
nificantly, highly and positively correlated with %V̇ O2peak
for young adult women, whereas the correlation between
RPE and %V̇ O2peakpred for older adult women was signifi-
cant, low and positive. These correlations in incremental
test and retest for both groups are presented in Figures 3
and 4.
Considering the discriminative validity, in the continu-
ous test, the RPE (t= −6,760; d = 2,47; P < .001), %HRmax
(t = −6,068; d = 2,22; P < .001) and %V̇ O2peak (t= −3,479; d =
1,27; P < .001) were higher in older adult women than in
young ones, indicating the discriminative ability of RPE
between such groups of women (Table 1).
Regarding the reliability of RPE measures, the incre-
mental test and retest evaluations presented excellent levels
of reliability, as presented in Table 2, for young adult
women and older ones in RPE (young adult women, test
= 13 ± 4 RPE and retest = 13 ± 4 RPE; older adult women,
test = 12 ± 3 RPE; retest = 12 ± 3 RPE), HR (young adult
women, test = 162 ± 28 bpm; retest = 160 ± 28 bpm; older
adult women, test = 118 ± 16 bpm; retest = 119 ± 17 bpm)
and V̇ O2 (young adult women, test = 33.47 ±
7.61 ml.kg−1.min−1; retest = 33.19 ± 7.39 ml.kg−1.min−1;
older adult women, test = 19.28 ± 4.03 ml.kg−1.min−1;
retest = 18.69 ± 3.60 ml.kg−1.min−1). In addition, during
the continuous test, the RPE presented excellent levels of
reliability for young adult women (ICC = .881; test = 8 ± 1
 MEASUREMENT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
Figure 3. Correlation between rating of perceived exertion and heart rate in incremental test and retest sessions for young (a and b)
and older adults (c and d), respectively.
RPE; retest = 8 ± 1 RPE) and older ones (ICC = .867;
test = 11 ± 2 RPE; retest = 11 ± 2 RPE).
Discussion
This is the first study to conduct a cross-cultural adap-
tation and to start checking the psychometric proper-
ties of the Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale. The results
demonstrated that the translated scale version pre-
sented concurrent validity for young adult women,
but not for older ones, excellent levels of reliability for
both groups and discriminative construct validity
between the women groups exercising at the same
absolute intensity.
In the incremental test, RPE and HR were highly and
positively correlated for young adult women, as originally
demonstrated by Borg (Borg, 1962). Other studies using
incremental protocols also observed a high correlation
between RPE and HR in young adult women and men
ones (Leung et al., 2004; Shigematsu, Ueno, Nakagaichi,
Hosung, & Tanaka, 2004). However, RPE and HR pre-
sented low-to-moderate and positive correlation in older
adult women, although higher values of correlation were
observed in cycle ergometer exercise in previous studies
(Chung et al., 2015; Shigematsu et al., 2004). Hence,
7
different exercise types (i.e., walking or cycling) may
produce different levels of correlations that difficult
a direct comparison among the results of different studies.
The low levels of correlations between RPE and HR
may be explained by the aging process. The reduction
of the strength of the correlation between RPE and HR
with aging occurs due to a lower range of possible HR
values between resting and maximum HR, which
occurs in parallel to the reduced work capacity (Bar-
Or, 1977; Serafim et al., 2014). Moreover, 71% of older
adult women reported breathing discomfort using the
oxygen consumption mask, probably anticipating the
end of the test before HR having reached the highest
expected value. This feeling of breathing difficulty may
accelerate the rise of RPE, once dyspnea is a component
of overall RPE (Staiano, Bosio, de Morree, Rampinini,
& Marcora, 2018). Alternatively, older adults might
need more familiarization sessions in order to increase
the RPE-HR correlations. Furthermore, it is important
to highlight that Borg believed there would be a RPE
value in the 6–20 scale matching a HR value (e.g., 15
RPE would correspond to 150 bpm) (Borg, 1982).
However, our results do not support this contention
because at a given RPE value there is a large inter-
individual variation in the HR (and V̇ O2) response
8 L. L. CABRAL ET AL.

Figure 4. Correlation between rating of perceived exertion and oxygen consumption in incremental test and retest sessions for
young (a and b) and older adults (c and d), respectively. %V̇ O2peak, percentage of oxygen consumption peak; %V̇ O2peakpred,
percentage of predicted oxygen consumption peak.

Table 1. Rating of perceived exertion, heart rate, and oxygen during incremental cycling test (Shigematsu et al., 2004).
consumption of submaximal continuous test in young adult However, the correlation between %V̇ O2peak and RPE was
women and older ones. low and positive for older adult women, although higher
Young adult women Older adult women
(n = 16) Mean ± SD (n = 14) Mean ± SD levels of correlation were previously reported (Myers et al.,
RPE 8±1 11 ± 2* 1987). The possible explanation for such a different result
HRmax (%) 53.9 ± 5.3 80.4 ± 5.8* may be the extrapolation of V̇ O2peak, while high and posi-
V̇ O2peak (%) 42.2 ± 5.7 78.2 ± 9.4*
tive correlations were reported in studies with maximal
RPE, rating of perceived exertion; HRmax (%), percentage of maximum heart
rate; V̇ O2peak, percentage of oxygen consumption peak. *Significantly incremental test for older adults (Shigematsu et al., 2004).
different from young adult women; P < .001. In addition, the breathing discomfort using the oxygen
consumption mask, reported by the older adult women,
which hampers the simple conversion between RPE probably anticipated the end of the test before V̇ O2 had
and HR (by multiplying the former by 10). Actually, reached the highest expected value of 17 RPE.
the RPE tended to underestimate the predicted HR Contrastingly, most of the young adult women were able
response in our sample. to reach their maximum 19 RPE or their theoretical max-
The %V̇ O2peak was highly and positively correlated with imum 20 RPE, as previously reported (Eston et al., 2012). In
RPE in young adult women, similar to previously reported spite of the low number of participants in the present study,

Table 2. Intraclass correlation coefficients between incremental test and retest associated with rating of perceived
exertion, heart rate, and oxygen consumption in young adult women and older ones.
Young adult women (n = 16) Older adult women (n = 14)
ICC 95% CI P ICC 95% CI P
RPE 0.979 0.970–0.985 <.001 0.952 0.931–0.966 <.001
HR (bpm) 0.987 0.980–0.992 <.001 0.956 0.939–0.969 <.001
V̇ O2 0.954 0.934–0.968 <.001 0.879 0.821–0.916 <.001
(ml.kg−1.min−1)
ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; RPE, rating of perceived exertion; HR, heart rate; V̇ O2, oxygen consumption. 95% Confidence Interval.
 MEASUREMENT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
we have showed similar validity index to a previous study
involving RPE scale in other language for young adult
women (Chung et al., 2015), whereas the Portuguese Borg
RPE 6–20 Scale did not present a satisfactory validity index
in older adult women.
Test–retest reliability of incremental exercise was
excellent for young adult women and older ones.
Previous studies reported lower levels of ICC compared
to the present study, in which older adults performed
exercise in a cycling ergometer or were evaluated after
myocardial infarction (Buckley, Sim, & Eston, 2009;
Chung et al., 2015). The reliability of RPE depends on
the correct scale application, in which the instructions
need to be clear and standardized to result in accurate
RPE (Leung et al., 2004). Furthermore, familiarization
is relevant to produce temporal stability of the measure
(Cabral et al., 2017), increasing the levels of reliability
(Row, Knutzen, & Skogsberg, 2012; Souza et al., 2018).
Therefore, the Portuguese Borg RPE 6–20 Scale is reli-
able for young adult women and older ones and at least
one familiarization session with the scale is required.
The discriminative construct validity of the
Portuguese RPE 6–20 Scale was confirmed as older
adult women presented higher RPE, %HRmax and
%V̇ O2peak values compared to young adult women.
The reduction of HRmax and V̇ O2peak and the rise of
RPE have been explained by the aging process
(Groslambert & Mahon, 2006; Izquierdo et al., 2001).
Similarly, Borg & Linderholm (Borg & Linderholm,
1967) reported that RPE at fixed exercise intensity
increased with aging in a heterogeneous sample of
men ranging from 18 to 79 years. Moreover, the RPE
in the continuous test presented excellent levels of ICC
in both young adult women and older ones. Therefore,
the reliability and discriminative validity of RPE indi-
cate the possibility of using the Portuguese Borg RPE
6–20 Scale to evaluate the time effect of physical train-
ing in young adult women and older ones.
The participation of only young adult women and
older ones may be considered a limitation of this study.
However, previous study demonstrated similar RPE
responses between men and women despite the exercise
(i.e., cycle or treadmill) (Green, Crews, Bosak, &
Peveler, 2003). Hence, the present Portuguese Borg
RPE 6–20 Scale may be used for both sexes.
Conclusion
The Borg RPE 6–20 Scale was translated and adapted
to Brazilian Portuguese language and culture, in
which presented concurrent validity and reliability
for young adult women. Even though older adult
women presented low to moderate concurrent
9
validity, it was observed high levels of reliability to
such population. Moreover, the Portuguese Borg RPE
6–20 Scale presented discriminative ability between
young adult women and older ones exercising at the
same absolute intensity. Future researches must con-
sider applying this translated and adapted scale in
a larger and broader sample to continue the valida-
tion process into the Brazilian culture. In addition,
general practitioners in several health, fitness, and
exercise performance areas can benefit from this
translated scale once using this instrument will stan-
dardize the results and facilitate the comparison
across different facilities and settings, mainly among
young adult women.
Acknowledgments
We thank to Caroline Kêmela da Silva and Gisele de Oliveira
Ribeiro dos Santos for helping to collect data. This study was
financed in part by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de
Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code
001.
ORCID
Luana L. Cabral http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3591-8132
Fábio Y. Nakamura http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-3652
Joice M. F. Stefanello http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4235-
2090
Bruno P. C. Smirmaul http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7612-
3099
Gleber Pereira http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4508-3730
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Appendix.
Portuguese Borg 6-20 RPE Scale and accompa-
nying instruction
Escala de Esforço Percebido de Borg
Instruções para o uso da Escala
Durante o exercício, queremos que você atribua um valor para
a sua percepção do esforço, isto é, o quão pesado (difícil) e árduo
o exercício é para você. A sua percepção depende principalmente
do esforço e do cansaço nos seus músculos e da sua sensação de
falta de ar ou incômodo no peito decorrentes do exercício.
Olhe para a escala; nós queremos que você use essa escala que
varia entre 6 e 20, na qual 6 significa “nenhum esforço” e 20
significa “esforço máximo”.
9 corresponde a um exercício “muito leve”. Para pessoas
saudáveis, é como uma caminhada lenta no seu próprio ritmo
por alguns minutos.
13 corresponde a um exercício “um pouco difícil”, mas
a pessoa ainda se sente bem para continuar.
17 “muito difícil” corresponde a um exercício muito
árduo. O exercício é percebido como muito pesado. Uma
pessoa saudável se sente muito cansada, mas ainda pode
prosseguir se continuar realmente se esforçando.
19 “extremamente difícil” corresponde a um nível de exercício
extremamente árduo. Para a maioria das pessoas este é o exercício
mais extenuante que elas já experimentaram na vida.
Tente avaliar a sua percepção do esforço o mais honest-
amente possível e de maneira precisa, sem pensar na carga do
exercício em si. Não atribua valores maiores ou menores do
que sua real percepção. É a sua própria percepção que é
importante, não como ela se compara com a de outras pes-
soas. Olhe para a escala e para as expressões verbais, e então
indique um número. Alguma pergunta?