Statistical analysis of vibration-induced bone and joint damages.

Vibration-induced damages to bones and joints are still occupational diseases with insufficient knowledge about causing and moderating factors and resulting damages. For a better understanding of these relationships also retrospective analyses of already acknowledged occupational diseases may be used. Already recorded detailed data for 203 in 1970 to 1979 acknowledged occupational diseases in the building industry and the building material industry of the GDR are the basis for the here described investigations. The data were gathered from the original documents of the occupational diseases and scaled in cooperation of an industrial engineer and an industrial physician. For the purposes of this investigations the data are to distinguish between data which describe the conditions of the work place (e.g. material, tools and posture), the exposure parameters (e.g. beginning of exposure and latency period) and the disease (e.g. anamnestical and radiological data). These data are treated for the use with sophisticated computerized statistical methods. The following analyses were carried out. Investigation of the connections between the several characteristics, which describe the occupational disease (health damages), including the comparison of the severity of the damages at the individual joints. Investigation of the side dependence of the damages. Investigation of the influence of the age at the beginning of the exposure and the age at the acknowledgement of the occupational disease and herewith of the exposure duration. Investigation of the effect of different occupational and exposure conditions.