Background
Hand arm vibration disease (HAVD) is one of the legal occupational diseases in China, and its pathogenesis is not clear. Operators exposed to electric vibration tools for a long time have an increased risk of HAVD.
Objective
To conduct a systematic evaluation of the effects of vibration operations on workers' upper limb nerves, blood vessels, and muscles.
Methods
Relevant studies on the effects of hand-transmitted vibration on HAVD were searched and collected from the China Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and PubMed databases, and the literature was published from January 1974 to April 2021. The quality of cohort and case-control studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), and the quality of cross-sectional studies was by the evaluation criteria recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ). Statistical analyses of outcome indicators (OR) in the included literature were performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software, effect sizes in the literature on vibration-induced white finger and neurosensory impairment were combined using a random-effect model, those that included carpal tunnel syndrome were combined using a fixed-effect model, and subgroup and publication bias analyses were also performed. To explore sources of study heterogeneity, meta-regression was performed using Stata 16.0 software, and sensitivity analyses were performed on the included literature.
Results
A total of 716 papers were retrieved from the databases, and 18 articles were retrieved by manual searching. A total of 34 papers were included after excluding those not meeting the criteria. Of the papers, 11004, 7270, and 1722 subjects related to vibration-induced white finger, neurosensory impairment, and carpal tunnel syndrome, respectively. The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, the combined ORs of hand-transmitted vibration exposure were 4.25 (95%CI: 2.72−6.65) for vibration-induced white finger, 4.03 (95%CI: 2.46−6.61) for neurosensory impairment, and 2.44 (95%CI: 1.61−3.71) for carpal tunnel syndrome. Heterogeneity was identified in the original studies related to vibration-induced white finger (I2=81%, P < 0.001) and neurosensory impairment ( I2=90%, P < 0.001), except carpal tunnel syndrome ( I2=23%, P < 0.001). The results of sensitivity analysis showed that the combined effect sizes ( ORs) were stable and reliable. The results of meta-regression showed that the factors contributing to high heterogeneity of combined vibration-induced white finger and neurosensory impairment were time of publication (t=−2.10,P=0.049) and working age (t=−2.40,P=0.032), respectively.
Conclusion
Hand-transmitted vibration is a risk factor for vibration-induced white finger, neurosensory impairment, and carpal tunnel syndrome in operators.
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