Trends in Vibration Disease Rates among Industrial Workers in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

Introduction: Vibration disease is a prevalent occupational disorder of the musculoskeletal, nervous, and vascular systems. Objective: To study recent trends in vibration disease rates among industrial workers in the Russian Arctic. Materials and methods: Public health monitoring data on working conditions and occupational diseases in the population of the Russian Arctic for 2007–2020 were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and Epi Info, v. 6.04d. Results: In 2007–2020, whole-body and hand-arm vibration ranked seventh (5.7 %) and tenth (1.5 %) in the general structure of industrial hazards identified at the local enterprises, respectively. Among etiologic factors of occupational diseases, these two types of vibration occupied the third and fourth places, while their cumulative exposure was second (29.5 %) only to the increased severity of labor processes. In 2007–2020, vibration disease was first diagnosed in 2,234 workers, mostly men (99.5 %) of early retirement age (51.0 ± 0.1 years) engaged in mining (91.3 %). The risk of developing vibration disease due to hand-arm vibration was higher than from whole-body vibration: RR = 3.37; CI 2.48–4.59; χ2 = 67.0; p < 0.001. The average annual incidence rate of vibration disease was 4.23 per 10,000 workers. Over 14 years, the number of vibration disease cases and its share in the structure of occupational disorders tended to increase while the number of years of employment in workers with vibration disease decreased from 24.9 ± 0.3 to 23.2 ± 0.2 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The increased number of vibration disease cases and a shorter length of service until the disease onset, which can hardly be attributed to deteriorating working conditions, require a proper explanation.