Jc. Rosecrance et al., VIBRATION SENSIBILITY TESTING IN THE WORKPLACE - DAY-TO-DAY RELIABILITY, Journal of occupational medicine, 36(9), 1994, pp. 1032-1037
Loss of vibration sensibility has been suggested as an early indicator
of peripheral compression neuropathy, including carpal tunnel syndrom
e. Although vibration sensibility has been used frequently to evaluate
carpal tunnel syndrome, the day-to-day reliability of vibration measu
rements in an industrial population measured at the workplace has not
been assessed. Vibration sensibility testing was performed at the univ
ersity ergonomics laboratory on 50 volunteers (100 hands) and at a new
spaper company on 50 workers (100 hands). Vibration perception and dis
appearance thresholds were measured on two occasions separated by 3 to
5 days. Student's t tests indicated no significant differences betwee
n the first and second tests or between the two groups. Pearson produc
t-moment correlations for test-retest reliability were lower in the in
dustry group but were relatively high despite the less than optimal te
sting conditions. Our findings suggest that vibration sensibility meas
urements are reliable from day to day not only in the laboratory but a
lso in the workplace.