title: Prevalence and associated factors of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) among medical laboratory staff at King Saud University Hospitals, KSA.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a group of symptoms resulting from local compression of the median nerve at the wrist leading to its subsequent functional impairment and local ischemia of the nerve. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and commonly reported symptoms of CTS in the laboratory workers of King Saud University (KSU) hospitals and to identify the associated variables with CTS.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a quantitative observational cross-sectional study which was conducted in KSU hospitals' laboratories with a total of 225 participants by using a standardized questionnaire known as " Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ). Data Analysis was carried out by IBM SPSS Statistics software version 21.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 225 participants, 57 were found to be severely symptomatic with a prevalence of 25.3%. Among the severely affected participants, females were more than males (58% > 42%) and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.045). Technicians affected (91.2%) were more than attendants (8.8%) and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.042).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of Carpal tunnel syndrome in KSU hospitals' medical laboratory staff (25.3%) was close to what was found in literature (21.5%). So laboratory workers are at risk of developing CTS, especially females and technicians with the dominant hand most likely to be affected.
authors.affiliation: Shaffi Ahamed S, Ph.D, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Shaffi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahamed S
authors.affiliation: Bardeesi Anas M, MBBS, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Bardeesi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anas M
authors.affiliation: Altwair Aref A, MBBS, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Altwair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aref A
authors.affiliation: AlMubarak Abdulrahman A, MBBS. Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: AlMubarak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdulrahman A
keywords: Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire; Carpal tunnel syndrome; laboratory workers; risk variables