Feature Importance for Estimating Rating of Perceived Exertion from Cardiorespiratory Signals Using Machine Learning

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of respiratory features, relative to heart rate (HR), when estimating rating of perceived exertion (RPE) using machine learning models.

Methods: A total of 20 participants aged 18 to 43 were recruited to carry out Yo-Yo level-1 intermittent recovery tests, while wearing a COSMED K5 portable metabolic machine. RPE information was collected throughout the Yo-Yo test for each participant. Three regression models (linear, random forest, and a multi-layer perceptron) were tested with 8 training features (HR, minute ventilation (VE), respiratory frequency (Rf), volume of oxygen consumed (VO2), age, gender, weight, and height).

Results: Using a leave-one-subject-out cross validation, the random forest model was found to be the most accurate, with a root mean square error of 1.849, and a mean absolute error of 1.461 ± 1.133. Feature importance was estimated via permutation feature importance, and VE was found to be the most important for all three models followed by HR.

Discussion: Future works that aim to estimate RPE using wearable sensors should therefore consider using a combination of cardiovascular and respiratory data.