Assessing whole body vibration exposure for use in epidemiological studies of back injuries: measurements, observations and self-reportsShow others and affiliations
2012 (English)In: Ergonomics, ISSN 0014-0139, E-ISSN 1366-5847, Vol. 55, no 4, p. 415-424Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Improved assessment of whole body vibration exposure is needed for epidemiological studies investigating the causes of low back disorders. Vibration was measured on 54 worker-days in five heavy industries, with data collected on observed and self-reported driving conditions, demographics, and vehicle characteristics. Variables significant at p<0.1 in simple linear regressions (20 of 34) were retained for mixed effects multiple regressions to determine the best prediction of rms vibration level and 8-h equivalent vibration exposure. Vibration was measured, on average, for 205 min per work shift (SD 105). Means and standard deviations in ms-2 were: x-axis 0.35 (0.19); y-axis 0.34 (0.28); z-axis 0.54 (0.23); vector sum 0.90 (0.49); and 8-h equivalent vector sum 0.70 (0.37). The final three regression models retained only 2 or 3 of the 34 variables (driving speed (<20 km/h and/or 20–40 km/h) and industry and/or vehicle type and explained up to 60% of the variance (R2=0.26–0.6))
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2012. Vol. 55, no 4, p. 415-424
Keywords [en]
whole-body vibration; exposure assessment; determinants modelling; heavy equipment; epidemiology
National Category
Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-11613DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2011.643243ISI: 000303584000003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84859175033OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-11613DiVA, id: diva2:509566
2012-03-132012-03-132018-03-13Bibliographically approved