Vibrations--discriminant models and possibilities for prognosticating specific and non-specific effects on the...

The present study involved 290 workers from branches of industry in which they were exposed to intense vibration and 102 patients suffering from disease due to vibration. Some specific (physiological) indices for exposure to vibration, such as the sensation of vibration, cold provocation test, Doppler-ultrasound, etc., and some non-specific (biochemical) indices, such as blood lipids, electrolytes and trace elements were studied. A discriminant analysis was made and 17 discriminant models (including different numbers of physiological and biochemical indices, age, and length of service) were elaborated. These models were used to predict the presence or absence of concomitant diseases, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and arthritic lesions in persons exposed to vibrations; the stage of the vibration disease; the occurrence of exposure to vibration or of vibration disease. It was shown that physiological (specific) and biochemical (non-specific) indices affected by the exposure to vibration were interrelated, and that their estimation by means of the discriminant analysis revealed the distinction between the states mentioned above.