Vasospasm in the feet in workers assessed for HAVS

House, R.; Jiang, D.; Thompson, A.; Eger, T.; Krajnak, K.; Sauvé, J.; Schweigert, M.

Affiliations

¹Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada

²Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada

³Biostatistics Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada

⁴School of Human Kinetics, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsay Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada

⁵Engineering and Control Technology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA

Abstract and keywords

Background: Previous studies have suggested that the presence of the vascular component of hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) in the hands increases the risk of cold-induced vasospasm in the feet.

Aims: To determine if objectively measured cold-induced vasospasm in the hands is a risk factor for objectively measured cold-induced vasospasm in the feet in workers being assessed for HAVS.

Methods: The subjects were 191 male construction workers who had a standardized assessment for HAVS including cold provocation digital photocell plethysmography of the hands and feet to measure cold-induced vasospasm. Bivariate analysis and multinomial logistic regression were used to examine the association between plethysmographic findings in the feet and predictor variables including years worked in construction, occupation, current smoking, cold intolerance in the feet, the Stockholm vascular stage and plethysmographic findings in the hands.

Results: Sixty-one (32%) subjects had non-severe vasospasm and 59 (31%) had severe vasospasm in the right foot with the corresponding values being 57(30%) and 62 (32%) in the left foot. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that the only statistically significant predictor of severe vasospasm in the feet was the presence of severe vasospasm in the hands (OR: 4.11, 95% CI: 1.60–10.6, P < 0.01 on the right side and OR: 4.97, 95% CI: 1.82–13.53, P <0.01 on the left side). Multinomial logistic regression analysis did not indicate any statistically significant predictors of non-severe vasospasm in the feet.

Conclusions: Workers assessed for HAVS frequently have cold-induced vasospasm of their feet. The main predictor of severe vasospastic foot abnormalities is severe cold-induced vasospasm in the hands.

Keywords: Feet; hand–arm vibration; occupational; vasospasm

Links

DOI: 10.1093/occmed/kqq191

PubMed: 21196472

WoS: 000288831900008

History

Online: 2010-12-31

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Cited By (17)

Year	Entry
2014	House R, Holness L, Taraschuk I. Infra-red thermography of the feet: comparison of HAVS cases and controls. In: Proceedings of the 5th American Conference on Human Vibration. June 10-13, 2014; Guelph, ON.69-70.
2018	Goggins K, Tarabini M, Lievers B, Eger T. Standing centre of pressure alters the vibration transmissibility response of the foot. In: Proceedings of the 7th American Conference on Human Vibration. June 13-15, 2018; Seattle, WA.33-34.
2015	Eger T, Leduc M, Goggins K, Thompson A, House R. Understanding the link between occupational exposure to foot-transmitted vibration and the development of vibration-induced white-feet. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Hand-Arm Vibration. October 13-15, 2015; Beijing, China.82-83.
2015	House R, Holness L, Taraschuk I. Infrared thermography for the diagnosis of vascular abnormalites in the hands and feet in hand-arm vibration syndrome. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Hand-Arm Vibration. October 13-15, 2015; Beijing, China.18-19.
2017	Shen S, House RA. Hand-arm vibration syndrome: what family physicians should know. Can Fam Physician. March 2017;63(3):206-210.
2019	Goggins KA, Tarabini M, Lievers WB, Eger TR. Biomechanical response of the human foot when standing in a natural position while exposed to vertical vibration from 10–200 Hz. Ergonomics. May 2019;6(5):644-656.
2019	Goggins KA, Tarabini M, Lievers WB, Eger TR. Standing centre of pressure alters the vibration transmissibility response of the foot. Ergonomics. June 2019;62(9):1202-1213.
2021	Goggins KA, Chadefaux D, Tarabini M, Arsenault M, Lievers WB, Eger T. Four degree-of-freedom lumped parameter model of the foot-ankle system exposed to vertical vibration from 10 to 60 Hz with varying centre of pressure conditions. Ergonomics. 2021;64(8):1002-1017.
2024	Stjernbrandt A, Pettersson H, Vihlborg P, Höper AC, Aminoff A, Wahlström J, Nilsson T. Raynaud’s phenomenon in the feet of Arctic open-pit miners. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2024;83(1):2295576.
2017	House R, Holness L, Taraschuk I, Nisenbaum R. Infrared thermography in the hands and feet of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) cases and controls. Int J Ind Ergon. November 2017;62:70-76.
2020	Chadefaux D, Goggins K, Cazzaniga C, Marzaroli P, Marelli S, Katz R, Eger T, Tarabini M. Development of a two-dimensional dynamic model of the foot-ankle system exposed to vibration. J Biomech. January 23, 2020;99:109547.
2020	Goggins KA, Oddson BE, Lievers WB, Eger TR. Anatomical locations for capturing magnitude differences in foot-transmitted vibration exposure, determined using multiple correspondence analysis. Theor Issues Egron Sci. 2020;21(5):562-576.
2021	Tarabini M, Eger T, Goggins K, Moorhead AP, Goi F. Effect of the shoe sole on the vibration transmitted from the supporting surface to the feet. Vibration. 2021;4(4):743-758.
2014	Eger T, Thompson A, Leduc M, Krajnak K, Goggins K, Godwin A, House R. Vibration induced white-feet: overview and field study of vibration exposure and reported symptoms in workers. Work. 2014;47(1):101-110.
2013	Singh P. Evaluation of Foot-Transmitted Vibration and Transmissibility Characteristics of Mining Boots and Insoles [Master's thesis]. Sudbury, ON: Laurentian University; 2013.
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2019	Maugeri S. Modelling the Response of the Human Feet to Vertical Whole-Body Vibration [Master's thesis]. Lecco, Italy: Politecnico Di Milano; 2019.