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Dose–response relationship between hand–arm vibration exposure and vibrotactile thresholds among roadworkers
- Source :
- Occupational and Environmental Medicine
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- BMJ, 2020.
-
Abstract
- BackgroundTesting of vibration perception threshold (VPT) at the fingertips as a quantitative measure of tactile sensitivity is a commonly used tool in diagnosing hand–arm vibration syndrome. There is limited research on dose–response relationships between hand–arm vibration (HAV) exposure and VPT on an individual level.AimsAssess possible dose–response relationships on an individual level between HAV exposure and VPT at the fingertips.MethodsWe assessed average daily vibration exposure (m/s2A8) and cumulative lifetime HAV exposure for 104 participants from different departments in a road maintenance company based on vibration measurements and questionnaires. VPT was measured based on the technical method described in ISO 13091-1:2005 using octave frequencies 8–500 Hz. We investigated associations using linear regression models with significance level p≤0.05.ResultsThe participants were either exposed to rock drills (n=33), impact wrenches (n=52) or none of these tools (n=19). Exposure to rock drills and impact wrenches was associated with elevated VPT for all seven test frequencies in the second and fifth fingers of both hands. A dose–response with the daily exposure measure m/s2(A8) was found based on 1.2 m/s2(A8) for impact wrenches, and 5.4 m/s2(A8) for rock drills. A stronger association was found with the cumulative exposure for rock drills compared with impact wrenches, and for the second finger compared with the fifth finger.ConclusionsHAV exposure was associated with elevated VPT, also at exposure levels below the common exposure action value of 2.5 m/s2(A8). Lowering the HAV exposure can contribute to prevent increasing VPTs in these workers.
- Subjects :
- construction
occupational health practice
Adult
Male
hygiene / occupational hygiene
medicine.medical_specialty
Exposure Assessment
Exposure action value
Fifth fingers
Cumulative Exposure
Audiology
Vibration
Fingers
03 medical and health sciences
Vibration perception
0302 clinical medicine
Occupational Exposure
Statistical significance
medicine
Humans
Prospective Studies
Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome
Norway
business.industry
Construction Industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Middle Aged
030210 environmental & occupational health
Dose–response relationship
Cross-Sectional Studies
Linear Models
Female
neurophysiology
Vibration exposure
business
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Environmental Monitoring
Hand arm
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14707926 and 13510711
- Volume :
- 77
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Occupational and Environmental Medicine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c98067875824ac616cc5a03078087bd3