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Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Vol. 65 No. 1, 2014.

Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-65-2014-2403

Assessment of coarse and fine hand motor performance in asymptomatic subjects exposed to hand-arm vibration

Martin B. Popević orcid id orcid.org/0000-0001-9853-4366 ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Srđan M. Janković ; Serbian Institute for Occupational Health, Belgrade, Serbia
Srđan S. Borjanović ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Slavica R. Jovičić ; Serbian Institute for Occupational Health, Belgrade, Serbia
Lazar R. Tenjović ; School of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Aleksandar P.S. Milovanović ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Petar Bulat ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

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Abstract

A frequently encountered exposure profile for hand-arm vibration in contemporary occupational setting comprises workers with a long history of intermittent exposure but without detectable signs of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Yet, most of the published studies deal with developed HAVS cases, rarely discussing the biological processes that may be involved in degradation of manual dexterity and grip strength when it can be most beneficial - during the asymptomatic stage. In the present paper, a group of 31 male asymptomatic vibration-exposed workers (according to the Stockholm Workshop Scale) were compared against 30 male controls. They were tested using dynamometry and dexterimetry (modelling coarse and fine manual performance respectively) and cold provocation was done to detect possible differences in manual performance drop on these tests. The results showed reduced manual dexterity but no significant degradation in hand grip strength in the exposed subjects. This suggests that intermittent exposure profile and small cumulative vibration dose could only lead to a measurable deficit in manual dexterity but not hand grip strength even at non-negligible A(8) levels and long term exposures.

Keywords

cold provocation; grip strength; manual dexterity; vibration exposure

Hrčak ID:

117128

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/117128

Publication date:

10.3.2014.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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