Median Nerve Conduction Velocity and Body Mass Index in Mechanical Job Professionals

Background: Obesity is an epidemic in 21st century especially rising among young population of developing nations is measured in terms of BMI (Body Mass Index). It affects almost every system. In present study we aim to investigate any correlation between NCV & BMI among professionals of mechanized jobs involving repeated wrist movements. Method: BMI and median nerve NCV is measured in dominant and non-dominant hand of young active professionals. Results: One way ANOVA is applied and MNCV of median nerve in dominant hand and SNCV of dominant as well as non-dominant hand is found to be significantly decreased but MNCV of non-dominant shows no significant difference. Conclusion: Early changes in nerve conduction due to increased carpal tunnel pressure are more pronounced in dominant hand and SNCV of median nerve could be used as an early screening and diagnostic tool for median neuropathy

Comparison of NCV of Right and Left Limb in Right handed Male Subjects.

Background: Nerve Conduction Velocity is affected by various factors like age gender & temperature. Various studies have been done regarding development of brain and dominance of right or left side, some studies have found differences between left and right hand for nerve conduction. Our aim is to compare NCV of dominant limb to nondominant limb in right hand dominant subjects and to find out if different normal values should be considered in right and left hand. Methods: The Median and Common Peroneal Nerve (CPN) of dominant as well as Non- dominant limb were used for measuring Motor & Sensory Nerve Conduction Velocity (MNCV & SNCV) in age groups of 31-35 and 36- 40 years using Medicaid system. Results: We found p value was insignificant using unpaired t-test for MNCV & SNCV of Median and Common Peroneal Nerve of left and right side. Similarly, the MNCV & SNCV of dominant and nondominant limb for median and CPN were insignificant. Conclusion: Consideration of right or left side dominance is not necessary while measuring NCV in asymptomatic subjects and different set of normal values are not required for right and left hand.

Effect of noise on human performance under variable load in a die casting industry--a case study.

The manual mode of working in industries is very common in the developing and under developed countries. Many industrial processes have generated high levels of noise and causing physiological effects on operators and thus leading to reduced performance. A survey was carried in various die casting industries to determine the levels of noise. It was found that the levels were in the range of 80-100dB(A). The survey also showed that the effects were more pronounced when the task was conducted under varying load conditions. Keeping this in view the problem was formulated to study whether the level of noise and amount of load has a bearing on human performance. For this purpose, experimental investigations in a simulated environment were carried out. Five subjects, all males and having no experience in the trade were selected for the task. The levels of noise under taken were 80, 90 and 100 dB(A) while the levels of load were 150, 200 and 250 N. A pulse oximeter was used to measure the human performance in terms of heart rate. The data was collected and analyzed on the basis of two factor repeated measure type of experimental design. Results of the study indicated that the level of noise and load both were having statistically significant effect on human performance. However, the interaction of level of noise and load was found to be statistically non-significant. The findings of the present work have been discussed in the light of the previous researches carried out on the topic. Suggestions have been made to reduce the levels of noise as per the recommendations of Occupational Safety and Health Association (1990). It is also suggested that instead of hand operated machines, foot operated versions should be used to reduce fatigue.