In sports, health and particularly exercise testing, the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), as measured by the ''Borg rating of perceived exertion scale'' (RPE scale), is a frequently used quantitative measure of perceived exertion during physical activity. In medicine this is used to document the patient's

exertion Exertion is the physical or perceived use of energy.Newton's Third Law, Elert, Glenn. “Forces.” ''Viscosity – The Physics Hypertextbook'', physics.info/newton-first/. Exertion traditionally connotes a strenuous or costly ''effort'', resulting ...

during a test for the severity of diseases, and sports coaches use the scale to assess the intensity of training and competition as well as endurance. The original scale introduced by Gunnar Borg rated exertion on a scale of 6-20. Borg then constructed a newer category (C) ratio (R) scale, the Borg CR10 scale, rated on a scale from 1-10. This is especially used in clinical diagnosis and severity assessment of breathlessness and

dyspnea Shortness of breath (SOB), also medically known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathing, breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of brea ...

, chest pain, angina and musculo-skeletal pain. The CR-10 scale is best suited when there is an overriding sensation arising either from a specific area of the body rather than overall exertion, for example, muscle pain, ache or fatigue in the quadriceps or from pulmonary responses during exertion. The Borg scale can be compared to other linear scales such as the

Likert scale A Likert scale ( , commonly mispronounced as ) is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term (or more fully the ...

or a

visual analogue scale The visual analogue scale (VAS) is a psychometric response scale that can be used in questionnaires. It is a measurement instrument for subjective characteristics or attitudes that cannot be directly measured. When responding to a VAS item, respond ...

. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the results are broadly very similar, although the Borg may outperform the Likert scale in some cases.

Set points on the RPE scale

The Borg RPE scale is a numerical scale that ranges from 6 to 20, where 6 means "no exertion at all" and 20 means "maximal exertion." When a measurement is taken, a number is chosen from the following scale by an individual that best describes their perceived level of exertion during physical activity. *6 – No exertion at all, relaxed *7 – Extremely light *8 *9 – Very light *10 *11 – Light *12 – Moderate *13 – Somewhat hard *14 *15 – Hard *16 *17 – Very hard *18 *19 – Extremely hard *20 – Maximal exertion

References

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External links

Information about Gunnar Borg PhD MD hc. at Department of Psychology, Stockholm University

Physical exercise Sports science Scales