title: The prevalence and characteristics of nerve compression symptoms in the general population.
abstract: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the prevalence and intensity of nerve compression symptoms and to estimate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in the general population. A survey that included the Katz hand diagram, the Carpal Tunnel Instrument (CTI), and the Short Form-36 questionnaire was sent to 1,559 people. A short telephone survey was conducted to a random sample of 110 nonresponders to determine if they were systematically different from the responders. Of the responders 35.1% had a symptom severity (CTI subscale) score of > or =1.5. Of the responders and the nonresponders 23.2% and 14.5%, respectively, reported waking at least once per night with numbness; 37.3% of the responders and 33.6% of the nonresponders experienced pain in the hand at least once per day. As determined by the Katz hand diagrams, 58 (16.3%) of the responders had classic or probable distributions of symptoms (likely to have CTS) and 298 (83.7%) had possible and unlikely distributions. After correcting for nonresponders our lowest possible estimate of CTS prevalence in the general US population is 3.72%, indicating a larger pool of symptomatic people than previously reported.
authors: Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery and Division of Hand Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA.
authors: G D
authors: GD
authors: Papanicolaou
authors: S J
authors: SJ
authors: McCabe
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Firrell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence