Carpal tunnel syndrome in females – an experience from Al-Hasa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is an entrapment neuropathy that involves the median nerve at the carpal tunnel of the wrist. When the median nerve is compressed, the clinical presentation of CTS starts to appear, such as numbness, tingling in the thumb, index, middle and part of the fourth finger. Objectives: To study CTS among females in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia, in relation to specific medical conditions. Materials and methods: A descriptive retrospective study was conducted on 115 women over a 14-year period from December 2000 to January 2014. Statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) with the mean, median and standard deviation. A P -value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The majority of CTS cases were seen among patients with diabetes mellitus (68.70%) followed by those with hypertension (15.4%). Conclusions: The prevalence of CTS is relatively high among woman with diabetes mellitus. Middle-aged women have a higher risk of developing the syndrome. The performance of daily activities was mostly unaffected in our studied population, which was consistent with previously published data. Patients with CTS should control their weight and blood sugar levels to lower their susceptibility of having CTS. Acknowledgements: We would like to acknowledge Dr Sayed Ibrahim, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, for help and support with statistical analysis.