Document Type : Original Article(s)
Authors
1
Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Occupational Health and Safety Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
2
Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, Esfarayen Faculty of Medical Sciences, Esfarayen, Iran.
3
Center of Excellence for Occupational Health, School of Public Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
4
Clinical Unit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
5
Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
10.48305/jims.2024.42793.1973
Abstract
Background: The increasing use of manual vibrating equipment for various construction works has exposed the workers of this industry to hand-arm vibration. The present study investigates the effect and frequency of hand-arm vibration on the vascular response of the hand in construction workers.
Methods: The present study was conducted on 40 workers in the construction industry in the laboratory phase. Using the hand-arm vibration simulator, the participants were exposed to 4 different scenarios of hand-arm vibration 5 m⁄s^2 (125Hz), 5 m⁄s^2 (63Hz), 5 m⁄s^2 (31.5Hz), and 10 m⁄s^2 (31.5Hz). Before and after each scenario, the vascular response of the hand was analyzed to detect the degree of vascular obstruction using the Nexus-4 device along with the BVP sensor.
Findings: The results of the present study showed that the relative blood flow of the finger decreased in all scenarios of exposure to hand-arm vibration and had statistically significant changes. The mean difference of the relative blood flow of the finger in the exposure to hand-arm vibration 10 m⁄s^2 (31.5Hz) was more than other scenarios. Examining the scenarios with the same vibration acceleration of 5 m⁄s^2 and different frequencies of 125, 63, and 31.5 Hz showed that with increasing frequency, the amount of relative blood flow decreased.
Conclusion: The frequency of exposure to hand-arm vibration, like the acceleration encountered, is very important in causing vascular complications. The higher the frequency of hand-arm vibration, the more vascular disorders in the fingers.
Highlights
Mohsen Aliabadi: Google Scholar, PubMed
Seyed Hojat Mousavi Kordmiri: Google Scholar, PubMed
Massimo Bovenzi: Google Scholar
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