Distribution of clinical symptoms in carpal tunnel syndrome

To determine the distribution of clinical symptoms based on the gender and age of patients with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

A cross-sectional observational study.

Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from April 2009 to June 2011.

Two hundred and twenty seven subjects with carpal tunnel syndrome symptom were recruited. CTS was diagnosed based on the clinical history and examination. For further confirmation of CTS symptoms, nerve conduction studies (NCS) were conducted.

There were 67 (29.5%) males and 160 (70.5%) females with mean age of 47.79 ± 5.53 years. Distributions of symptoms were 34.3% at the level of whole three lateral fingers, 14.9% were at the level of hand and forearm, was common in males compared to females. However, 48.8% symptoms at the level of whole hand, and 11.3% at the tips of the three lateral fingers were common in females compared to males. Distribution of symptoms in the whole three lateral fingers (41.6%) were significantly higher (p = 0.0001) in patients who were more than 50 years of age and symptoms at the level of wrist region (12.7%) were significantly higher (p = 0.001) in patients with age group less than 50 years.

The distribution of CTS symptoms at the level of whole of three lateral fingers, hand and forearm were higher in males compared to females, and symptoms at the lateral three tips of the fingers and whole hand were common in females compared to males. Furthermore, the symptoms in whole three lateral fingers were higher in patients with more than 50 years of age and at the level of wrist region were higher in patients with age less than 50 years.