Author(s): FESTINO, E., PAPALE, O., DI ROCCO, F., DE MAIO, M., FOSTER, C., CORTIS, C., FUSCO, A., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CASSINO AND LAZIO MERIDIONALE, Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 1283

INTRODUCTION:
Talk Test (TT) is a simple method for measuring exercise intensity and estimating the ventilatory threshold (VT). It has been validated and used in several languages, such as Spanish and English, but no validation is available in Italian. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the Italian version of the TT (ITT) as a method for exercise prescription in the adult population.
METHODS:
14 healthy participants (24.6±2.9yrs) performed two testing sessions: one submaximal incremental treadmill exercise test (SITE) during which each individuals’ ventilatory threshold (VT) was assessed via respiratory gas analysis, and one ITT following the same protocol. The SITE involved 3-min warm-up at 1% slope, followed by a 1 km/h speed increase every 2 minutes. In the last 30s of each stage, heart rate (HR), Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE, Borg CR10 scale), and speed (km/h) were recorded. In the ITT, participants read aloud the Italian version of the Olympic Oath and were asked, “Can you speak comfortably?” with three possible responses: yes, not sure, or no. The last “yes” stage was considered the last positive (LP), the first “not sure” stage the equivocal (EQ), and the first “no” stage the negative (NEG). To investigate concurrent validity, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used to assess (p<0.05) the relationship between HR, RPE, and speed at LP, EQ, and NEG during the ITT and the corresponding variables at VT recorded during SITE. Bland-Altman plots and 95% limits of agreement (LoA) were used to evaluate the level of agreement between HR, RPE, and speed variables from the ITT and SITE.
RESULTS:
EQ (HR=167.6±11.6bpm; Speed=8.9±2km/h; RPE=3.6±0.9AU) and VT (HR=166.5±9.6bpm; Speed=9.2±2.4km/h; RPE=2.8±0.9AU) showed a very good to excellent correlation, with significant relationships for HR (r=0.78, p<0.001) and speed (r=0.97, p<0.001).
For RPE, a moderate correlation (r=0.55, p=0.040) was observed between LP (2.5±0.9AU) and VT. Bland-Altman plots indicated good agreement between EQ and VT, with mean bias of 1.14bpm for HR (LoA ranging from –12.97 to 15.25bpm), and –0.29km/h for speed (LoA ranging from –1.48 to 0.91km/h) values. Bland-Altman plots supported the significant relationship between LP and VT, where the mean bias was of –0.25 AU for RPE (LoA ranging from –1.87 to 1.37AU) values.
CONCLUSION:
The EQ stage of the ITT is a practical and valid surrogate for VT in exercise prescription for healthy Italian adults. When participants were unsure about speaking comfortably, they exercised at an intensity measured by HR and speed comparable to VT. The discrepancy in RPE results, where RPE at VT aligns more closely with LP intensity, may be due to a timing mismatch. While HR and speed increase at the start of each stage, RPE is recorded at the end, reflecting accumulated effort. This lag in perceived exertion may explain its misalignment with the other physiological variables.