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Work ability in vibration-exposed workers

BACKGROUND: Hand–arm vibration exposure may cause hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) including sensorineural disturbances. AIMS: To investigate which factors had the strongest impact on work ability in vibration-exposed workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in which vibration-exposed workers ref...

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Autores principales: Gerhardsson, L., Hagberg, M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4239793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25145484
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu121
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author Gerhardsson, L.
Hagberg, M.
author_facet Gerhardsson, L.
Hagberg, M.
author_sort Gerhardsson, L.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Hand–arm vibration exposure may cause hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) including sensorineural disturbances. AIMS: To investigate which factors had the strongest impact on work ability in vibration-exposed workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in which vibration-exposed workers referred to a department of occupational and environmental medicine were compared with a randomized sample of unexposed subjects from the general population of the city of Gothenburg. All participants underwent a structured interview, answered several questionnaires and had a physical examination including measurements of hand and finger muscle strength and vibrotactile and thermal perception thresholds. RESULTS: The vibration-exposed group (47 subjects) showed significantly reduced sensitivity to cold and warmth in digit 2 bilaterally (P < 0.01) and in digit 5 in the left hand (P < 0.05) and to warmth in digit 5 in the right hand (P < 0.01), compared with the 18 referents. Similarly, tactilometry showed significantly raised vibration perception thresholds among the workers (P < 0.05). A strong relationship was found for the following multiple regression model: estimated work ability = 11.4 − 0.1 × age − 2.3 × current stress level − 2.5 × current pain in hands/arms (multiple r = 0.68; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Vibration-exposed workers showed raised vibrotactile and thermal perception thresholds, compared with unexposed referents. Multiple regression analysis indicated that stress disorders and muscle pain in hands/arms must also be considered when evaluating work ability among subjects with HAVS.
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spelling pubmed-42397932014-11-21 Work ability in vibration-exposed workers Gerhardsson, L. Hagberg, M. Occup Med (Lond) Original Paper BACKGROUND: Hand–arm vibration exposure may cause hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) including sensorineural disturbances. AIMS: To investigate which factors had the strongest impact on work ability in vibration-exposed workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in which vibration-exposed workers referred to a department of occupational and environmental medicine were compared with a randomized sample of unexposed subjects from the general population of the city of Gothenburg. All participants underwent a structured interview, answered several questionnaires and had a physical examination including measurements of hand and finger muscle strength and vibrotactile and thermal perception thresholds. RESULTS: The vibration-exposed group (47 subjects) showed significantly reduced sensitivity to cold and warmth in digit 2 bilaterally (P < 0.01) and in digit 5 in the left hand (P < 0.05) and to warmth in digit 5 in the right hand (P < 0.01), compared with the 18 referents. Similarly, tactilometry showed significantly raised vibration perception thresholds among the workers (P < 0.05). A strong relationship was found for the following multiple regression model: estimated work ability = 11.4 − 0.1 × age − 2.3 × current stress level − 2.5 × current pain in hands/arms (multiple r = 0.68; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Vibration-exposed workers showed raised vibrotactile and thermal perception thresholds, compared with unexposed referents. Multiple regression analysis indicated that stress disorders and muscle pain in hands/arms must also be considered when evaluating work ability among subjects with HAVS. Oxford University Press 2014-12 2014-08-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4239793/ /pubmed/25145484 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu121 Text en © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Original Paper
Gerhardsson, L.
Hagberg, M.
Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title_full Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title_fullStr Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title_full_unstemmed Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title_short Work ability in vibration-exposed workers
title_sort work ability in vibration-exposed workers
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4239793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25145484
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu121
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