title: Incidence of diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome in a general population.
abstract: We sought to determine the incidence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome in the general population. Using three different case definitions, we conducted a prospective study to ascertain by medical record review all cases of incident disease in a defined population during a 2-year period. Newly diagnosed probable or definite carpal tunnel syndrome (N = 309) occurred at a rate of 3.46 cases per 1,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = 3.07-3.84). The incidence rate in our study was 3.5 times higher than the rate 20 years ago in a Minnesota city. The rate difference probably results from a combination of reasons, including a true rise in incidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Marshfield Medical Research and Education Foundation, WI, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Nordstrom
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: DeStefano
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Vierkant
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Layde
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007221:Industry; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014922:Wisconsin / Q000453:epidemiology