Measurement of Muscle Passive Stiffness in Vibration-Exposed Groundskeepers

Details

• Journal Article:
  International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Personal Author:
  Chen, Nathan ; Yang, Seunghyeon ; Leach, Justin ; Oh, Jonghwa
• Description:
  Objective: Currently, there is no standardized method to quantify musculoskeletal health of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). This study evaluated passive stiffness (PS) of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscle among groundskeepers and examined the potential relationship of the PS with lifetime hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposure of the workers. Methods: PS of APB muscle was measured using a myotonometer among 17 groundskeepers and 10 office workers for 3 days. Study participants' HAV exposure, demographic information, social history, and health-related information were pulled from our previous studies conducted in parallel with the present study. Linear mixed models were employed to estimate the association between lifetime HAV exposure dose and PS. Results: The average PS for right and left hands was 509.7 N/m (range 402.2-752.9 N/m) and 501.7 N/m (range 380.4-660.7 N/m), respectively, in the exposure group and 422.0 N/m (range 365.0-517.2 N/m) and 430.3 N/m (range 359.2-591.9 N/m), respectively, in the reference group. A significant positive association between lifetime HAV exposure and PS was observed in the multivariable linear mixed model after adjusting for age, body mass index, and race/ethnicity (right hand: β = 6.972 and p-value = 0.0128; left hand: β = 9.039 and p-value = 0.0108). Conclusions: A significant association between lifetime HAV exposure and PS was found, supporting PS measurement using myotonometry as a promising health indicator for muscular disorders induced by HAV. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Musculoskeletal System
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Vibration
• Keywords:
  • Hand-arm vibration syndrome; HAVS; Groundskeeping workers; Muscle function; Muscular disorders; Musculoskeletal disorders; MSD; Vibration exposure; Occupational exposure; Analytical methods;
  • Author Keywords: Hand-arm vibration; Hand-arm vibration syndrome; HAVS; Groundskeepers; Myotonometer; Passive stiffness
• Source:
  Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2026 May; 99(4):22
• ISSN:
  0340-0131
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Birmingham Region OSHA ; Chicago Region OSHA ; Michigan
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  11 pdf pages
• Volume:
  99
• Issue:
  22
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071547
• Contact Point Address:
  Jonghwa Oh, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
• Email:
  jonghwa@uab.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20270630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259322/cdc_259322_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6aea365bb39f2fc53886835ff0126f00c47c2bf62be3b2da912930653ed9e6464d206bb61cac173f1290770a79d8fd9a79db4c61a1b0d0ec97c4fa5d7e09e849