Risk of Hearing Loss Among Workers with Vibration-Induced White Fingers

• BackgroundWe examined the risk of hearing loss for workers who use hand-held vibrating tools with vibration-induced white fingers (VWF) compared to workers without VWF. MethodsData on 184 participants from a 21-year cohort were gathered with questionnaires and measurements. The effects on hearing status of VWF, hand-arm vibration exposure, smoking habits, age and two-way interactions of these independent variables were examined with binary logistic regression. Analyses were made for the right hand and ear as well as for the hand with VWF and the ear with worse categorized hearing status. ResultsWorkers with VWF in their right hand had an increased risk of hearing loss (odds ratio 2.2-2.3) in the right ear. Workers with VWF in any hand did not have any increased risk of hearing loss in the ear with worse hearing status. ConclusionsThis study supports the hypothesis that VWF increases the risk of hearing loss among workers who use hand-held vibrating tools in a noisy environment. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1311-1318, 2014. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

hand-arm vibration

noise

vibration

combined exposure

HAND-ARM VIBRATION

INDUCED RAYNAUDS-PHENOMENON

COCHLEAR BLOOD-FLOW

THRESHOLD SHIFT

NOISE EXPOSURE

FOLLOW-UP

SMOKING

SYMPATHECTOMY

ASYMMETRY

EAR

Public

Environmental & Occupational Health

ARCK J

1988

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH

V14

P265

MNE G

1987

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH

V13

P275

UNG DY

1983

JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

V73

P1277

YAKITA T

1987

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH

V13

P32

hand-arm vibration

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