Abstract
Reported herein is the introduction of a method devised by the author which simply enables to estimate the grade of disability of silicotic patients on the spot by utilizing oximeter.
Dead-space adding test and step-up test were selected as means of load.
Timely obseuvation of arterial oxygen saturation was made by oximeter, then “r-index method” utilizing coefficient of correlation was used and the statistical consideration was made.
1. Under either load, significant diffeuences exited between normal and silicotic groups (P<0.01).
2. By dead-spacc-adding test, SI was significantly greater than SI (P<0.05).
3. By step-up test, statistical differences were revealed between normal and silicotic groups but no significant differences were observed between each grade of silicosis.
4. The fact that the oximeteu-rate by dead-space-adding test showed more marked diffeuences with normal groups as the grade of silicosis progresses in x-ray images than the rate by step-up test, may suggest that the former provides more sound basis in estimating the grade of disability by silicosis.
5.When the oximeter-rate are classified by the grade of condition by x-ray using the classification method proposed by Yamamoto, Miyazaki et al, it was recognized the worse the grade of conditions progresses, the lower the labor capacity becomes.
