Use of outcome instruments to compare workers' compensation and non-workers' compensation carpal tunnel syndrome

Validated outcome instruments were used to compare treatment outcomes of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in workers' compensation and non-workers' compensation patients. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of the generic Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the disease-specific Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Instrument was mailed to 277 patients randomly selected from all 1050 new patients treated for CTS during a 1-year period. A total of 212 patients (61 workers' compensation and 151 non-workers' compensation) responded to the survey 7-22 (mean, 14) months after the initiation of treatment, yielding a response rate of 76%. Workers' compensation patients had worse mean scores than non-workers' compensation patients in 6 of the 8 SF-36 scales and in the 2 Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Instrument scales, but validating multivariate analysis could not verify significant score differences in any of the scales. Thus, this study could not demonstrate inferior treatment outcomes of CTS in workers' compensation patients as measured by standardized generic and disease-specific outcome instruments.