Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Box 414, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Occup Med (Lond). 2014 Dec;64(8):629-34. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqu121. Epub 2014 Aug 21.
Hand-arm vibration exposure may cause hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) including sensorineural disturbances.
To investigate which factors had the strongest impact on work ability in vibration-exposed workers.
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.
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).
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.
手部手臂振动暴露可能会导致手部手臂振动综合征（HAVS），包括感觉神经性障碍。
研究哪些因素对手部手臂振动暴露工人的工作能力影响最大。
这是一项横断面研究，将手部手臂振动暴露工人与哥德堡市普通人群中随机选择的未暴露对照组进行比较。所有参与者都接受了结构化访谈、回答了几个问卷并接受了体检，包括手部和手指肌肉力量以及振动触觉和热感觉阈值的测量。
与 18 名对照组相比，振动暴露组（47 名工人）双侧第 2 指（P < 0.01）和左手第 5 指（P < 0.05）以及右手第 5 指对冷和热的敏感性显著降低，同样，触诊法显示工人的振动感觉阈值显著升高（P < 0.05）。对于以下多元回归模型发现了很强的关系：估计工作能力= 11.4-0.1×年龄-2.3×当前压力水平-2.5×手部/手臂当前疼痛（多元 r=0.68；P<0.001）。
与未暴露对照组相比，振动暴露工人的振动触觉和热感觉阈值升高。多元回归分析表明，在评估 HAVS 患者的工作能力时，还必须考虑应激障碍和手部/手臂肌肉疼痛。
