PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Thomas Clemm
AU  - Karl Færden
AU  - Bente Ulvestad
AU  - Lars-Kristian Lunde
AU  - Karl-Christian Nordby
TI  - Dose–response relationship between hand–arm vibration exposure and vibrotactile thresholds among roadworkers
AID  - 10.1136/oemed-2019-105926
DP  - 2020 Mar 01
TA  - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
PG  - 188--193
VI  - 77
IP  - 3
4099  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/77/3/188.short
4100  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/77/3/188.full
SO  - Occup Environ Med2020 Mar 01; 77
AB  - Background Testing 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.Aims Assess possible dose–response relationships on an individual level between HAV exposure and VPT at the fingertips.Methods We 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.Results The 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.Conclusions HAV 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.