A revised cold water immersion test for assessing peripheral circulatory function

To improve the conventional cold water immersion test for assessing peripheral circulatory function, the immersed area of the hand was changed in this study. Twenty-seven healthy medical students with a mean age of 24 years participated in the study. The cold water immersion tests were carried out using two methods (in 5 degree C water for 1 min), in which the immersed area was up to the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joints (hereafter, MP-method) which is a new method, or to the wrist (hereafter, W-method) which is a conventional method. The recovery of skin temperature, vibratory perception threshold and complaints of finger pain were determined during cold immersion tests with the two methods. The mean skin temperature for the MP-method after immersion recovered more quickly than that for the W-method. However, the time courses of recovering were parallel for the two methods. Significant differences were noted at 3 min, 5 min and 10 min after cessation of immersion. There was a significant positive correlation in the recovery rates at 5 min after immersion between the two methods (correlation coefficient = 0.65, p < 0.01). The mean vibratory thresholds for the W-method were higher than those for the MP-method, and the difference was significant (p < 0.01). All subjects preferred the MP-method to the W-method because there was less finger pain. These results indicate that the MP-method, immersion up to the MP joint of a hand, for assessing peripheral circulatory function is better than the W-method.