Screening of vibration-induced disorders in the building industry using digital tactilometry. Results of a field study.

As occupational physicians in the building industry, we observed among these workers a high frequency of vibration exposure, during different tasks. We intended to study vibration exposure effects on vibration perception thresholds measured by digital tactilometry in this population of construction workers. A cross-sectional field study was made, 405 subjects were examined; each of them answered a questionnaire, underwent a medical examination and performed a test measuring his vibration perception thresholds, 150 subjects constituted the reference group. A close relationship between age and thresholds among the non-exposed group was observed. A threshold normalization of age of study the 204 exposed subjects was applied. Two exposure indices allowing time dependency vibration exposure analysis were defined the present daily exposure and cumulated exposure. In the examined population, thresholds rise with the present daily exposure in hours per day for 125 Hertz, while no significant influence of cumulated exposure is apparent. It was also pointed out that subjects exposed more than one and a half hour per day have higher thresholds than reference subjects, even if they do not have any clinical neurological complaints. This results seems to indicate the infraclinical feature of the test. These results suggest that screening of hand-arm vibration exposed population should be developed using this method. As occupational physicians in the construction industry, practising in Paris and surrounding areas, the authors studied the relationship between neurological disorders measured by vibrotactile perception thresholds, and hand-arm vibration exposure, among workers. They present the results of a field study they led within their institute, in collaboration with the tested workers' firms, and with the financial participation of the French Ministry of Labour.