Whole Body Vibration Exposures and Health Status among Professional Truck Drivers: A Cross-sectional Analysis

Exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) is known to be associated with various adverse health outcomes among professional truck drivers. As a part of a randomized controlled trial, this study evaluated WBV exposures and various health outcomes from 96 professional truck drivers. The WBV was measured and analyzed per International Standards Organization (ISO) 2631-1 and 2631-5 WBV standards. This study also measured self-reported regional body pain (10-point scale), low back disability (the Oswestry Disability Index), and physical/mental health (the Short Form 12-item Health Survey). Lastly, this study evaluated associations between the WBV exposure and various health outcomes. The results showed that the predominant z-axis weighted average vibration [A(8)] measure (Mean ± SE: 0.35 ± 0.01 m/s2) was below the ISO and European Union (EU) daily exposure action limits (0.5 m/s2) whereas the vibration dose value [VDV(8)] measure (12.2 ± 0.3 m/s1.75) was above the ISO and EU daily exposure action limit (9.1 m/s1.75). Self-reported low back pain (LBP) was the most prevalent adverse musculoskeletal outcome reported (72.5%) with average LBP score of 2.9 (SD: 2.0). The SF-12 health scores showed that truck drivers’ physical health status was lower than the average US population (p’s < 0.04). Moreover, the Spearman’s correlations ( rs ) between the WBV parameters and health outcomes indicated that A(8) measures were associated with LBP ( rs = 0.31; r = 0.05) and SF-12 physical composite score ( rs = −0.39; r = 0.02); however VDV(8) was not associated with any of the health outcomes. The study findings indicates that although the impulsive exposures [VDV(8)] were more prominent, the continuous, average vibration [A(8)] appears to be more strongly associated with injury risks. This finding supports the practice of EU countries using A(8) as one of the primary measures for characterizing daily WBV exposures but also complements many other studies indicating that the current EU daily action limit value of 0.50 m/s2 for WBV may be too high.

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Truck loading or unloading operations: Reduction of the whole-body vibration exposure of pallet truck drivers at the dock leveller location

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics ◽

10.1016/j.ergon.2021.103127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 83 ◽

pp. 103127

Author(s):

Jérôme Rebelle

Keyword(s):

Whole Body Vibration ◽

Truck Drivers ◽

Whole Body ◽

Vibration Exposure ◽

Body Vibration ◽

Truck Loading

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Assessment of whole-body vibration exposure of mining truck drivers

Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ◽

10.17159/2411-9717/1146/2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 120 (9) ◽

Author(s):

B. Erdem ◽

T. Dogan ◽

Z. Duran

Keyword(s):

Health Effect ◽

Whole Body Vibration ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Dominant Frequency ◽

Truck Drivers ◽

Whole Body ◽

Vibration Acceleration ◽

Body Vibration ◽

Dump Trucks ◽

Iso 2631

SYNOPSIS Whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure measurements taken from 105 truck drivers employed in 19 mines and other workplaces were evaluated with the criteria prescribed in EU 2002/44/EC directive, BS 6841 (1987), ISO 2631-1 (1997). and ISO 2631-5 (2004) standards. The highest vibration acceleration was measured on the vertical Z-axis. The highest WBV exposure occurred in the RETURN, HAUL, and SPOT phases while the lowest exposure took place in the LOAD and WAIT phases. Crest factors on all axes were generally greater than nine, yet strong correlation coefficients were achieved in VDV-eVDV analyses. Driver seats generally dampened the vibration along the Z-axis but exacerbated it along X and Y axes. The dominant frequency for the X and Y-axes rose up to 40 Hz while it ranged between 1 Hz and 2.5 Hz along the Z-axis. While the probability of an adverse health effect was higher with BS 6841 (1987) and ISO 2631-1 (1997) standards, it was low according to EU 2002/44/EC and ISO 2631-5 (2004). The 91 t, 100 t, and 170 t capacity trucks produced lower vibration magnitudes. Drivers were exposed to approximately equivalent levels of WBV acceleration and dose in contractor-type trucks and mining trucks. Rear-dump trucks exposed their drivers to a slightly higher level of vibration than bottom-dump trucks. Underground trucks exposed their drivers to a significantly higher level of vibration than mining trucks. Both driver age and driver experience were inversely proportional to vibration acceleration and dose. Conversely, there was a positive relationship between the truck service years and the WBV acceleration and dose to which drivers were exposed to. Loads of blocky material exposed drivers to higher vibration acceleration and dose levels than non-blocky material. Keywords: whole-body vibration, mining truck, A(8), BS 6841, EU 2002/EC/44, ISO 2631-1, ISO 2631-5, VDV(8).

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Eating alone at each meal and associated health status by cohabitation situation among Japanese community-dwelling elderly: a cross-sectional analysis of the KAGUYA study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-49187/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Osamu Kushida ◽

Jong-Seong Moon ◽

Daisuke Matsumoto ◽

Naomi Yamasaki ◽

Katsuhiko Takatori

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Functional Capacity ◽

Health Status Indicators ◽

Subjective Health ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Care Needs ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cross Sectional Analysis ◽

History Of ◽

Sectional Analysis

Abstract Background: This study investigated the association between eating alone at each meal and health status including functional capacity according to cohabitation situation among Japanese community-dwelling elderly.Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Keeping Active across Generations Uniting the Youth and the Aged (KAGUYA) study in Japan. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all 8004 residents aged 65 or older residing in the same Japanese town the participants in March 2016. Eating alone was assessed by first asking whether participants ate three separate meals each day (i.e., breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and those who answered affirmatively were then asked how many people were usually present at each meal. Health status was assessed in terms of subjective health, medical history, care needs, body mass index, depression, and functional capacity.Results: Data from 3057 respondents were analyzed. Among those living with others, those who reported not being in good subjective health and a history of hypertension were significantly more likely to eat alone at breakfast (odds ratio 1.27; 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.61, and 1.26; 1.06–1.49). Depressive symptoms and many subscales of functional capacity were also significantly associated with eating alone at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (P < 0.05). Among those living alone, those eating alone at breakfast had lower scores for indicators of functional capacity including information practice (P = 0.010) and total scores (P = 0.049).Conclusions: For both cohabitation situations, many health status indicators were related to eating alone at each meal, especially breakfast.

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