The relationship between body mass index and the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome

Abstract

Increased weight and, more recently, body mass index (BMI), have been suggested as risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). In an effort to determine the relative risk (RR) of obesity in the development of CTS, 949 patients who had an evaluation of the right upper extremity that included motor and sensory conduction studies of the median and ulnar nerves were reviewed. Of these patients, 261 were diagnosed with a median mononeuropathy at the wrist. Those individuals who were classified as obese (BMI > 29) were 2.5 times more likely than slender individuals (BMI < 20) to be diagnosed with CTS. Forty-three percent of obese women and 32% of obese men had the diagnosis of CTS compared to 21% of slender women and 0% of slender men.

Agreement between symptom surveys, physical examination procedures and electrodiagnostic findings for the carpal tunnel syndrome

“…For example, with symptoms and MM-0.5 as criteria, between 2% and 7% of the workers in our study had CTS in the dominant hand. In comparison, a 27% prevalence of CTS was found in a study conducted among a large clinical population (33). In addition, thenar atrophy, often reported in clinical populations, was rarely observed in this group.…”

“…The clinical tools employed in this study, including hand diagrams, physical examination procedures, and sensory nerve conduction tests performed by experienced clinicians, are widely used clinically and in epidemiologic studies of CTS, and they are generally recognized as pertinent to defining the clinical syndrome. Electrodiagnostic findings can also be influenced by other factors, such as obesity, age, height, finger circumference and wrist ratio (33,34). However, the use of the median minus ulnar peak latency difference, as employed in this study, has been shown to be the least sensitive measure to such covariates (35).…”

Outcome after carpal tunnel release: impact of factors related to metabolic syndrome

“…Idiopathic CTS is more common in females, middle-aged patients and those with an increased body mass index (BMI) [2]. Diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and hypothyroidism, also carry an increased risk of developing CTS [3].…”

Job stress reactivity and work-related musculoskeletal symptoms

“…Investigations of patients with CTS have revealed a consistent relationship between being overweight and 1) having a mononeuropathy of the median nerve, 2) being diagnosed with CTS, and 3) undergoing surgical intervention for CTS (Stallings, Kasdan, Soergel & Corwin, 1997;Nordstrom, Vierkant, DeStefano, & Layde, 1997;Tanaka et al, 1997;Werner & Franzblau, 1994). Workers with a body mass index (BMI; kg/m 2 ) greater than 25 have been shown to be four times as likely to present with a median mononeuropathy than coworkers with a BMI less than 25 .…”