Examining practice effects in repeated measurements of vibration perception thresholds on finger pulps of healthy individuals – Is it possible to improve your results over a clinically relevant test interval?

Ekman, Linnéa; Löfgren, Jin Persson; Dahlin, Lars B.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226371

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Clinical implications that follows our study are for example to facilitate follow-ups of nerve affecting disorders in both primary and diabetic care, as well as to constitute a useful tool in neuropathic investigations. Impact of repeated measurements has been evaluated and the results implicated that practice effects are non-existing when examining VPTs through vibrometry at an annual basis [ 46 ]. If applicable, the possibility to compare subjects to their own former results would therefore be an important tool in these investigations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Normative values of the vibration perception thresholds at finger pulps and metatarsal heads in healthy adults

et al. 2021

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Aims To establish normative values of vibration perception thresholds (VPTs), using multi-frequency vibrometry at finger pulps and at metatarsal heads of the foot in healthy adults. We also aimed to investigate factors that could potentially affect VPTs such as age, sex, height, weight, foot- or handedness and skin temperature. Methods VPTs were examined in 924 healthy and randomly selected subjects in the southern Sweden (mean 46 years; 628 women and 296 men). Inclusion criterias were adult subjects (>18 years) in considerable health without diabetes mellitus or other nerve affecting disorders. VPTs were measured at the finger pulps of index and little finger, as well as the first and fifth metatarsal heads of the foot, through multi-frequency vibrometry using the VibroSense Meter® I device. Patient characteristics were recorded and skin temperature was measured before assessment of VPTs. Results We present normative values of VPTs for a large population of both male and female subjects in various ages. VPTs detoriated as age increased (0.09–0.59 dB per year; p<0.001), i.e. progressing with normal aging. Increasing skin temperature affected VPTs in finger pulps, but not at metatarsal heads, with -0.2 to -1.6 dB, i.e. vibration perception improved with higher temperatures. Height was only found to affect the VPTs of metatarsal heads (250 Hz: 0.42 dB per cm). Sex, weight and handedness did not affect the VPTs. Conclusion We investigated the normative values of VPTs and presented affecting factors as age, skin temperature and height. With these results, VPT testing through multi-frequency vibrometry is enabled to be used in a clinical practice as a diagnostic tool when investigating neuropathy and other neurological disorders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Normative values of the vibration perception thresholds at finger pulps and metatarsal heads in healthy adults

et al. 2021

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“…The absence of a quantitative method, with good reliability as a reference, creates a problem. The VibroSense Meter has good test-retest reliability [25,26] without any practice effect. We have recently shown that it is sensitive enough to be used to monitor the effects of improved metabolic control on nerve function [14].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diabetic Neuropathy Assessed with Multifrequency Vibrometry Develops Earlier than Nephropathy but Later than Retinopathy

Lindholm

Ekman

Elgzyri

et al. 2023

Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes

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Background: Diabetes is associated with systemic complications. Prevalence of diabetic nephropathy, and retinopathy, in type 1 diabetes is declining but it is not known if this is true also for diabetic neuropathy. Aim: To investigate the relationship between large fiber diabetic neuropathy and other diabetic complications. Materials and methods: Neuropathy, defined here as large fiber neuropathy, was assessed by measuring vibration perception thresholds at four different frequencies on the sole of the foot using a standard VibroSense Meter and/or neuropathic symptoms, in 599 type 1 diabetic individuals. Retinopathy status was graded using the International Clinical Disease Severity Scale. Grade of albuminuria and previous history of any macrovascular complications, were registered. Results: Diabetic individuals without retinopathy had similar vibration thresholds as age- and gender-matched control persons without diabetes, whereas those without microalbuminuria had higher thresholds than controls. Two persons out of 599 (0.3%) had microalbuminuria, but not retinopathy or neuropathy, and 12/134 (9%) without retinopathy had signs of neuropathy. Totally 119/536 (22%) of the patients without microalbuminuria had neuropathy. Vibration thresholds increased with rising severity of retinopathy and grade of albuminuria. In a multinomial logistic regression analysis, neuropathy was associated with retinopathy (OR 2.96 [1.35-6.49], p=0.007), nephropathy (OR 6.25 [3.21-12.15]; p=6.7x10-8) and macrovascular disease (OR 2.72 [1.50-4.93], p=0.001). Conclusions: Despite recent changes in the incidence of diabetic complications, the onset of large fiber neuropathy follows that of retinopathy but precedes the onset of nephropathy in type 1 diabetes.

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“…Thus, VPT was tested at a total of 28 (4×7) frequencies. The performance of the VPT test has been published in two studies applying similar test equipment and methods 21 22. The participants had at least a 3-hour exposure-free period before the test and were asked not to use tobacco in any form the last hour before the test.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure-response relationship between hand-arm vibration exposure and vibrotactile thresholds among rock drill operators: a 4-year cohort study

Clemm

Lunde²,

Ulvestad

et al. 2022

Occup Environ Med

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ObjectivesThe risk of developing hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) from occupational hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposure is traditionally determined by the onset of vascular symptoms (white fingers). However, changes in tactile sensibility at the fingertips is a clinical sign of HAVS which in most cases precedes vascular signs. We aimed to assess relationships between occupational HAV exposure and HAVS-related signs including vibration perception thresholds (VPT) and pegboard score on an individual level, using a longitudinal study design with follow-up tests.MethodsWe followed-up 148 workers exposed to different HAV levels for 4 years, with health examinations including VPT tests and pegboard tests carried out at baseline, 2 years and 4 years. VPT testing included seven frequencies, from 8 to 500 Hz. Second and fifth finger on both hands were tested, thus a total of 28 tests on each subject. We investigated associations using linear mixed models and significance level at p≤0.05.ResultsThere was a significant exposure-response relationship on an individual level between HAV exposure from rock drills and VPT for 16 of 28 test frequencies. The highest rise (worsening) in VPT was found at the 500 Hz test frequency with 1.54 dB increased VPT per 10-fold increase in cumulative exposure. We found no deterioration in pegboard performance associated with HAV exposure among the participants.ConclusionsRisk predictions of HAVS may be based on exposure-response relationships between HAV exposure and VPT. The 500 Hz test frequency should be included in the VPT test protocols for early detection of signs related to reduced tactile sensibility.

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Examining practice effects in repeated measurements of vibration perception thresholds on finger pulps of healthy individuals – Is it possible to improve your results over a clinically relevant test interval?

Cited by 6 publications

References 29 publications

Normative values of the vibration perception thresholds at finger pulps and metatarsal heads in healthy adults

Normative values of the vibration perception thresholds at finger pulps and metatarsal heads in healthy adults

Diabetic Neuropathy Assessed with Multifrequency Vibrometry Develops Earlier than Nephropathy but Later than Retinopathy

Exposure-response relationship between hand-arm vibration exposure and vibrotactile thresholds among rock drill operators: a 4-year cohort study

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