Cold water immersion test (10°C, 10min) for diagnosing vibration-induced white finger among a group of polishers in a subtropical environment.

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This study aimed to investigate whether the finger skin temperature (FST) after cold provocation (10°C, 10min) is as a useful indicator for assisting in the diagnosis of vibration-induced white finger (VWF) in a group of polishers in a subtropical environment. Ninety male vibration-exposed metal polishers (30 patients and 60 controls) from the Guangdong Province in Southern China were recruited. The FSTs at 30, 20, 10, and 0min before cold water immersion (FSTpre-30, FSTpre-20, FSTpre-10, and FSTbaseline) and 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30min after immersion (FST0, FST5, FST10, FST15, FST20, FST25, and FST30) were measured on the index, middle, and ring fingers of both hands. During the first 20-min adaptation period, there was a significant increase in FST in three fingers on both hands in the two groups. In contrast, there were no significant differences between FSTpre-10 and FSTbaseline. Furthermore, FSTpre-30, FSTpre-20, FSTpre-10, and FSTbaseline of the three fingers in both hands did not differ significantly. During recovery, the indicators FST5-0, FST10-0, R5, and R10 for the index finger of the left hand in patients were lower than for the controls. Among the various indicators, the absolute recovery rate, FST5-0, at 5min after immersion was identified as the best diagnosis indicator with a sensitivity of 76.7% and specificity of 70.0% when applied to the index finger of the left hand. The cold water immersion test as applied in a subtropical environment can have a fair discriminating ability for diagnosing VWF.