A Longitudinal Study on the Evolution of Blood Pressure in Miners after Their Replacement from Deep Underground Mines

Overview

The evaluation of a 10-year longitudinal study confirmed that the mean blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, in miners of the deep underground mines decreases significantly after their replacement from the work underground. At the time of their employment in the mining operati- ons their blood pressure values were significantly higher than corresponding values of men, matched by age, living in the same Ostrava area. After the miners were shelved from the work, their blood pressure values gradually corresponded to the control population. The decrease of blood pressure did not develop in all of the observed miners, but was related to normalization of previously increased blood pressure in more than a half of the men. The decrease was not depend- ent on the previous type of exposure in the mine, i.e. it was not different in the exminers exposed only to noise from the group of hand drifters and miners, who were exposed to noise and vibrati- ons above the acceptable limits. In connection with the presented results the authors presume that the underground work exerts a complex stress, whose elimination favourably influences these haemodynamic characteristics.

Key words:
blood pressure, noise, vibration, miners, longitudinal study