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INDUSTRIAL HEALTH 1990,28,41-52
Validity of Function Tests on the Upper Extremities
in
Establishing a Prognosis in Vibration Syndrome
Makoto FUTATSUKA1), Noriko INAOKA2)
and Tatsuro UENO1)
1) Department of Public Health, Kumamoto University Medical School,
Honjo 2-2-1, Kumamoto 860, Japan
2) Faculty of Education, Kumamoto University,
Kurokami 2-40-1, Kumamoto 860, Japan
(Received June 12, 1989 and in revised form January 6, 1990)
Abstract: The validity of function tests on the upper extremities as prognostic tools in vibration syndrome was evaluated over a sequence of observation periods. The subjects examined were 672 forest workers using chain saws who had had some complaints and who had shown abhnormal findings in the function tests. The function tests consisted of peripheral circulatory and sensory tests, including cold provocation and motor tests of functional capacity in the upper extremities. From the results of testing, 23 variables were selected and examined by multivariate analysis. The four principal components were extracted by principal component analysis, and the factor score of the peripheral circulatory disturbances component was found to be highly correlated with the severity of VWF (Vibration-induced White Finger). The course of VWF and the nail compressin test had high standard regression coefficients with the severity of vibration syndrome. The course of finger numbness, pinching power, pain threshold, skin temperature and X-ray findings in the elbow joints had high discriminant function values for the evaluation of the severit of vibration syndrome.
Key words: Hand arm vibration-Vibration syndrome-Examination method-Validity-Multivariate analysis
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