Cold water immersion test (10 °C, 10 min) for diagnosing vibration-induced white finger among a group of polishers in a subtropical environment

Xiao, Bin, Zhang, Danying, Yan, Maosheng, Qu, Hongying, Wen, Wei, Zhang, Xiao, Lin, Hansheng, Ye, Ying, Chen, Ting and Chen, Qingsong (2019) Cold water immersion test (10 °C, 10 min) for diagnosing vibration-induced white finger among a group of polishers in a subtropical environment. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 92 (6), 865-872. (doi:10.1007/s00420-019-01425-4).

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether the finger skin temperature (FST) after cold provocation (10 °C, 10 min) is as a useful indicator for assisting in the diagnosis of vibration-induced white finger (VWF) in a group of polishers in a subtropical environment. Method: Ninety male vibration-exposed metal polishers (30 patients and 60 controls) from the Guangdong Province in Southern China were recruited. The FSTs at 30, 20, 10, and 0 min before cold water immersion (FST _pre-30, FST _pre-20 , FST _pre-10 , and FST _baseline ) and 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 min after immersion (FST ₀ , FST ₅ , FST ₁₀ , FST ₁₅ , FST ₂₀ , FST ₂₅ , and FST ₃₀ ) were measured on the index, middle, and ring fingers of both hands. Results: During the first 20-min adaptation period, there was a significant increase in FST in three fingers on both hands in the two groups. In contrast, there were no significant differences between FST _pre-10 and FST _baseline . Furthermore, FST _pre-30, FST _pre-20, FST _pre-10 , and FST _baseline of the three fingers in both hands did not differ significantly. During recovery, the indicators FST _5–0 , FST _10–0 , R ₅ , and R ₁₀ for the index finger of the left hand in patients were lower than for the controls. Among the various indicators, the absolute recovery rate, FST _5–0 , at 5 min after immersion was identified as the best diagnosis indicator with a sensitivity of 76.7% and specificity of 70.0% when applied to the index finger of the left hand. Conclusion: The cold water immersion test as applied in a subtropical environment can have a fair discriminating ability for diagnosing VWF.

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Contributors

Author: Ying Ye

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