title: Evaluation of sleep position as a potential cause of carpal tunnel syndrome: preferred sleep position on the side is associated with age and gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that an important step in a causative mechanism for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is sleeping in a lateral position (sleeping on the side), we designed a cross-sectional survey to measure the association between sleep position, age, gender, and body mass index (BMI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We surveyed 247 patients in a primary care setting. Fifty percent of men and 73% of women prefer to sleep on their side (p < .001; unadjusted odds ratio, 2.7). In addition, the proportion of women who prefer to sleep on their side increased with increasing age (p < .001). There was no association between BMI and sleeping in a lateral position.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports the hypothesis that sleeping on the side is an important step in a causal pathway for CTS.
authors: Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, 485 Gray Street, Louisville, KY 40202 USA.
authors: Steven J
authors: SJ
authors: McCabe
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Xue