Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire: the influence of diagnosis on patient-oriented results

To evaluate the influence of the patient-physician interaction and the instrumental awareness of the assessment of patients' answers to a carpal tunnel syndrome-specific questionnaire.

We performed a prospective study of the results of a self-administered questionnaire for carpal tunnel syndrome before and after electrodiagnosis. Thirty-two consecutive patients were referred to our neurophysiological laboratory for suspected carpal tunnel syndrome. A patient-oriented evaluation using the Italian version of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ), a widely used disease-specific questionnaire, was carried out before the clinical interaction was performed. The assessment was performed by means of a neurophysiological classification. After the communication of the result, the BCTQ was again administered.

The comparison of the BCTQ results, obtained PRE and POST clinical interaction, showed a significant reduction in the reported symptoms and hand function impairment not related to the neurophysiological results.

The findings of the patient-oriented evaluation are significantly influenced by the communication of the assessment results. In prospective studies, the baseline assessment by means of a patient-oriented evaluation should consistently be performed in all patients at the same stage of the clinical process.