ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristic change of fingertip vibrotactile perception threshold(VPT) at two different frequencies among mine drilling workers. METHODS: A total of 48 mine drilling workers exposed to hand-transmitted vibration for at least 1.0 year were selected from mines in Hubei Province as the vibration exposure group by using the random number table method, and workers without hand-transmitted vibration exposure were selected as the control group. An HVLab vibrotactile perception meter was used to measure the fingertip VPT at 31.5 and 125.0 Hz in workers of these two groups. RESULTS: None of the workers in these two groups showed any clinical symptoms associated with occupational hand-arm vibration diseases. At 31.5 and 125.0 Hz, the fingertip VPT in the vibration exposure group was higher than that in the control group(P<0.01), the fingertip VPT of the little fingers was higher than that of the index fingers(P<0.01). At 125.0 Hz, the fingertip VPT of the fingers in dominant hands was higher than that in non-dominant hands in workers of the vibration exposure group(P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The mine drilling workers with hand-transmitted vibration exposure had higher fingertip VPT. There were differences of VPT in fingers and dominant hands.