Prevalence of Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome and Related Factors among Carpenters in Phrae Province, Thailand

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Published: May 26, 2022
Keywords:
vibration hand-arm vibration syndrome vibration white finger carpenter

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Amnuayporn Jaitue
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
Soontorn Supapong
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prolonged occupational exposure to vibration has been associated with clinical disorders of vascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal systems known as the hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).


OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HAVS and the associated factors among carpenters in Phrae Province, Thailand.


METHOD: This cross-sectional study consisted of 236 carpenters employed in wood processing plants. A stratified sampling technique was applied. The data were collected by using a questionnaire and monofilament testing and analyzed by using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression.


RESULTS: The overall prevalence of HAVs was 74.2%. The prevalence of musculoskeletal, vascular, and neurological disorders was 60.6%, 36.4%, and 16.7%, respectively. Factors associated with HAVs were the pushing hand posture, gender, age, current smoking, continuously working more than 20 minutes, and length of exposure time (year).


CONCLUSION: With this high prevalence of HAVs, anti-vibration gloves should be provided. The avoidance of pushing hand posture, more break time, and job rotation should also be applied. Moreover, a health promotion program, especially smoking cessation program, should be launched.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 39 No. 2 (2022): April - June
Section
Original Article
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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