Assessment of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Female Patients With Hypothyroidism

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy. There are several factors that influence the severity of CTS. The purpose of this study was to explore the severity of CTS in hypothyroid patients.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the university clinic. Seventy-six participants with a clinically and electrophysiological confirmed diagnosis of CTS were included in the study. The demographic data and severity of CTS were analyzed based on the presence (n=38) or the absence (n=38) of primary hypothyroid disease. Thirty-eight hypothyroid patients who were being treated were included in this study. For the assessment of the severity of CTS, the Boston questionnaire (BCTQ) and electrodiagnostic tests were used. For data analysis, an independent sample t-test and chi-squared test were carried out. A P<0.05 was considered significant.

The mean age of hypothyroid and non-hypothyroid CTS patients was 46.21±7.22 and 44.24±8.02 years, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was >30 kg/m2 in both groups. There was no significant difference in demographic data among the two groups. The mean score of symptom severity in hypothyroid and non-hypothyroid-CTS patients were 30.37±10.84 and 35.89±7.19, and also functional status was 21.71±9.04 and 25.92±6.62, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups, in terms of symptom severity scale (P=0.017, 95% CI, 31.14%, 35.48%) and functional status scale (P=0.023, 95% CI, 21.95%, 25.67%). In terms of electrophysiological findings, there was no statistically significant difference between these two groups. 

The results of this study indicated that, contrary to expectation, the severity of CTS is higher in non-hypothyroid patients than in hypothyroid patients.