PREVALENCE OF NEUROSENSORY & VASCULAR IMPAIRMENT FROM OCCUPATIONAL HAND ARM VIBRATION IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION WORKERS USING VIBRATING TOOLS

U. Kabeer¹, N. Singh¹

¹Amar Jyoti Institute of Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy Department, Delhi, India

Background: Hand-arm vibration (HAV) is vibration transmitted into a worker's fingers and arms as a result of an effort process. Long-term use of vibratory equipment such as rock drills, concrete drillers, and chain saws, among other things, causes hand-arm vibration syndrome. Hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) in the upper extremities has the potential to induce neurological, vascular, and musculoskeletal disorders.The intensity of the vibration source, the transmissibility and absorption of vibration into the hand, and individual susceptibility are all physical vulnerabilities that appear to play a role in the occurrence of HAVS in humans. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), an entrapment neuropathy of the median nerve at the wrist, is usually linked to HAVS. It's usually due to exposure to ergonomic stressors, such as the continual, repetitive nature of the work, force, or mechanical stresses such as torque and posture, which result in unique recurring, forceful wrist actions and/or uncomfortable wrist postures.The clinical finding most strongly linked to HAVS exposure is Raynaud's syndrome. Raynaud's disease can be either primary or secondary.reduction in grip strength in workers exposed to hand-arm vibration, which was verified in subsequent research. Vibration exposure was linked to evidence of direct muscle damage such as muscle necrosis, fibrosis, and structural disorganization.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of neurosensory & vascular deficits from occupational hand arm vibration in building construction workers using vibrating tools.

Methods: 384 eligible subjects of age group 20-40 from 10 different construction site in Delhi NCR region were randomly selected. Assessment of HAVS by Health Surveillance questionnaire was done to determine the deficits and grading of symptoms done by Stockholm workshop scale.

Results: After data acquisition result were determined for the overall deficits, the result shows Neurological symptoms like finger tingling (54.2%) and finger numbness (55.2%) were more prevalent than vascular symptoms (3.1%) in the building construction workers in Delhi NCR. Tinel’s test were positive in atleast one hand with 95 workers in right hand (24.7%) and Tinel’s test were positive in 39 workers in left hand (10.2%).Phalen’s Testwere positive in 133 workers in right hand (34.6%) whereasPhalen’s Testwere positive in 65 workers in left hand (16.9%). In right hand, 283 workers shows the normal hand grip strength (73.7%) and only 101 workers have weak grip strength (26.3%) and In left hand, 304 workers shows the normal hand grip strength (79.2%) and only 80 workers have weak grip strength (20.8%).

Conclusions: Construction workers depicted deficits in Neurological symptoms were more prevalent than vascular symptoms. Musculoskeletal symptoms indicates decreased grip strength in workers using vibratory tools.

Implications: The significance of the study is to overlook the long term neurological effect of the use of vibrating tools among the construction workers as there is limited research in exploring the hand arm vibration syndrome in worker community. Physiotherapist should be aware that the assessment should be as detailed as possible in order to rule the causes of pain, numbness or tingling sensation in such cases.

Funding acknowledgements: This study is self funded by the author

Keywords:
Hand-arm vibration
Vibration-induced white finger
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Topics:
Occupational health & ergonomics
Neurology

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Amar jyoti institute of Physiotherapy

Committee: Amar Jyoti Institutional Review Board- Ethical Committee

Ethics number: AJIEB-EC/12/2021