Carpal tunnel syndrome in physiotherapists in Bloemfontein

[摘要] English: Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common compressionneuropathy of the upper limb with a 3-5% prevalence among the worldwide generaladult population. It is associated with specific personal factors, certain medicalconditions, repetitive and forceful hand and wrist movements and occupation. Thisstudy aimed at investigating the prevalence of CTS among physiotherapists.Method: The cross-sectional study included 64 participants, chosen by means ofconvenience sampling from a population of 158 physiotherapists. Demographic data,details of occupational activities; possible personal, medical and occupational causativefactors and arm and hand symptoms were gathered by a structured interview. Aparticipant-completed Katz hand diagram was used to clarify information on upper limbsymptoms. Typical CTS signs, height and weight were determined by a physicalexamination.Results: According to the case definition the prevalence of definitive CTS was 7.8%and of probable CTS was 7.8%. Age over 40 years and rheumatoid arthritis as personalor medical history causative factors was statistically significant among the definitivediagnosis group. Overweight showed a tendency towards a definitive CTS diagnosis.Years in practice, hours working overtime and working in the neurosurgery field wasoccupational causative factors in the definitive CTS diagnosed group. No occupationalactivities or treatment techniques could be found to be associated with the CTSdiagnosis. Longer resting periods between patients was the only statistically significantmanagement strategy among the definitive CTS diagnosed group.Conclusion: Physiotherapy is an at risk occupation for the development of CTS with aprevalence of 15.6% when combining the definitive and probable diagnosis groups, butwith no clear occupational activities or treatment techniques as possible risk factorsidentified.

[发布机构] University of the Free State