| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MURATA Katsuyuki Akita University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (80157776)
YANO Eiji Teikyo University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50114690)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000)
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| Research Abstract |
To evaluate health effects of environmental factors those remain in low levels but affect chronically, it is required to use objective indicator that is sensitive enough to detect changes within presymptomatic phase. The method should also be applicable to field studies using large number of subjects. Thus, we applied a computerized neuromotor test battery (Catsys 2000) to groups of workers exposed to organic solvents or wokers with shift work to confirmn its capability to detect health effects of various factors.
Postural sway parameters with eyes closed, i.e. sagittal sway and sway area, and tremor in right hand were significantly larger in 62 solvent workers of Buddhist altar manufactory, who were exposed to toluene, xylene, styrene, and hexane with various concentrations, than 35 unexposed controls. The comparison was made with adjusting for age, sex, height, smoking status, and alcohol consumption. Among 74 female nurses, there was no significant difference in postural sway and hand tremor between those who work with rotating three-shift work and those who work only during day-time. Hand-ear coordination differed significantly between them. Throughout such studies, we noticed correlation between hand tremor and postural sway, and between hand tremor and heart rate, implying that movement of body stem and heart influence the hand tremor.
In conclusion, postural sway and hand tremor enabled us to analyze the difference of subjects exposed to organic solvents, and are promising for the evaluation of health effects caused by neurotoxic substance. We must determine in larger subjects whether the method is applicable to the effect of shift work.
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