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.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Somatoform Disorders or Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders are a major public health problem.The pathophysiology underlying these disorders is not yet understood. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore if sensory responsiveness could contribute to a better understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying two key symptoms of Somatoform Disorders, namely somatic symptoms and illness anxiety. METHODS: We measured vibrotactile perception thresholds with the HVLab Perception Meter and examined their association with somatic symptoms, illness anxiety and trait anxiety. A sample of 205 volunteers participated in the study. RESULTS: Sensory responsiveness was neither associated with somatic symptoms (ß = -0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.37, 0.39) nor trait anxiety (ß = -0.07; 95% CI, -0.30, 0.07). However, lower vibrotactile perception thresholds were associated with increased scores of the overall illness anxiety scale (ß = -0.65; 95% CI, -1.21, -0.14) and its constituent subscale disease conviction (ß = -2.07; 95% CI, -3.94, -0.43). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that increased sensory responsiveness is associated with illness anxiety and hence should be examined further as potential target within the etiopathology of somatoform disorders.
