Validity of the Italian Version of the Talk Test

Purpose: Talk Test (TT) is commonly used as surrogate of maximal testing exercises due to its simplicity, validity and easily expose to determine exercise intensity in several populations. Since only few study validated its use in different languages, this study aimed to determine the validity of the Italian version of TT in healthy young adults. Methods: Thirteen (female=5; male=8) young adults (age: 24.7±3.0years, body mass: 67.6±14.9kg, body height: 1.7±0.7m, BMI: 22.0±4.3 kg/m2) participated in this study. Subjects performed one TT and one submaximal exercise test (SET) with respiratory gas analysis on a treadmill. The testing sessions consisted of a 3-min warm-up with a slope of 1% (fixed for the tests’ execution time) at a comfortable subjectively speed of 60-65% of maximal heart rate (HRmax). The speed was increased by 1 km/h every 2 minutes (each stage) and subjects were required to rate their perceived exertion (RPE) on a 0 (rest) - 10 (maximal effort) scale. At 1.5 minute into each stage of the TT protocol, subjects were required to recite the Italian version of the Olympic Oath “I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams”. Immediately after reciting the speech, subjects were asked “Can you speak comfortably?” with three possible answers: “Yes”, “Not sure” or “No”. Tests were stopped if subjects: reached the 90% of HRmax; “No” as answer and subjects’ fatigue. RPE and running speed values were averaged for the tests. Independent t-test was used to compare RPE and speed within TT and SET. Linear regression analysis (R2) to assess the relationship between TT and SET was used. Root mean square error (RMSE) was also calculated and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: No differences (p<0.05) were found between tests within RPE (TT: 3.4±1.2; SET: 3.1±1.3 AU) and speed (TT: 8.2±1.5; SET: 8.9±1.8 km/h). Strong and very strong linear relationship were found for RPE (R2=0.79; RMSE=0.58, p≤0.0001) and speed (R2=0.95; RMSE=0.40, p≤0.001) between TT and SET. Conclusions: The strong relationship between the TT and SET indicated that TT might be a valid tool to assess exercise intensity when maximal tests with respiratory gas analysis are impractical due their sophisticated technologies and cost.