Abstract
Aim: Our study was planned to compare the clinical symptom severity, hand functions and sleep quality of female patients diagnosed with mild and moderate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) according to electrodiagnostic test results and to investigate the relationship between the symptom severity, hand functionality and sleep quality.
Method: Our study was carried out with 32 female patients aged 35-65 years, diagnosed with mild to moderate CTS, who applied to Erzurum Atatürk University Training and Research Hospital, Physical Therapy Polyclinics. Electromyography (EMG) was used for the electrophysiological diagnosis of CTS severity, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain intensity, Boston CTS Questionnaire for CTS functional status and symptom severity, Duruöz Hand Index for hand functionality, and Jenkins Sleep Scale for sleep quality. The data were analyzed with the SPSS Program.
Results: According to the results of our study, patients diagnosed with mild and moderate CTS had similar pain, Boston CTS Questionnaire and Jenkins Sleep Scale results (p>0.05); Duruöz Hand Index results were found to be higher in patients diagnosed with moderate CTS than in patients with mild CTS (p<0.05). When the relationship between the symptom severity, hand functionality and sleep quality of the patients was examined; it was determined that the functional status and sleep quality were worse in patients with higher symptom severity (p<0.01).
Conclusion: EMG results and clinical symptoms may not always be compatible with each other in CTS patients, and the symptoms experienced by patients with CTS of different severity may show patient-specific changes according to EMG results. Accordingly, we think that more effective results can be achieved by evaluating the clinical conditions of CTS patients together with the EMG results and the treatments to be planned for the patient.