Natural exercise patterns in children using the talk test as the measure of intensity

Physiologic exercise response tests are completed to determine the intensity of exercise \nand exercise capacity of a participant. These tests of physiological response and exercise \nintensity are easy to measure when in a clinical setting because of the readily available \nequipment. In a clinical setting it would be difficult to know intensity of exercise without \nmonitoring equipment. Consequently, subjective measures for exercise intensity have \nbeen introduced to lessen the burden of using expensive equipment. Subjective tests \nallow for simple questions (i.e. “Are you able to speak comfortably?”) to be asked about \nintensity and the relative physiologic responses correlated with the answer. This \nsimplicity of subjective measures sparked the interest in the Talk Test (TT). The purpose \nof this study was to identify if the TT is an appropriate measure of intensity with natural \nexercise patterns in children. This study looks specifically at the TT as a measurement of \nexercise intensity in children ages 9 to 12. Ten children were recruited to perform the \nstudy. Subjects completed three visits consisting of familiarization and the TT, a maximal \noxygen consumption test, and an interval based exercise bout with the TT. Chi-square \nanalysis found a significant relationship in the interval based exercise between predicted \nability to speak comfortably and observed ability to speak comfortably. This study \nidentified that the TT was an appropriate measure of intensity with natural exercise \npatterns in children.