Concordance between rating of perceived exertion and function in persons with chronic, disabling back pain

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE), or the Borg scale, has been shown to be positively associated with physiologic effort in individuals undergoing cardiovascular assessment. This study examined the correlations between cardiovascular performance, psychosocial factors, and the RPE scale among 50 persons with chronic pain undergoing multidisciplinary assessment. The results indicated a significant negative association between fitness outcome measures (maximum VO2 and endurance on bicycle), psychosocial measures, and age. With a mean maximum heart rate achieved on the exercise bicycle of 79.2% (SD = 8.3), there was no significant association between the highest rating of perceived exertion on the exercise bicycle test and percent of maximum heart rate. Percent of maximum heart rate was significantly related to self-reported pain and disability as well as age. These findings suggest that perceived exertion in this population is not highly correlated with physiologic effort, as other factors such as pain may influence effort ratings.