This is an observational cross-sectional study. This study included 274 wrists of 137 participants working in Ain Shams University hospital. Participants were included if they were more than 18 years, working as doctors, nurses, secretaries or manual workers. Participants with history of diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorder, renal or hepatic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, chemotherapy intake, direct trauma to upper limb, symptoms suggestive of peripheral neuropathy, or current pregnancy were excluded. All participants were subjected to clinical assessment by Arabic version of Boston carpal tunnel questionnaire (BCTQ) [7]. The BCTQ questionnaire is formed of two sections: A Symptom Severity Scale and a Functional Status Scale. The Symptom Severity Scale comprises 11 questions and the FSS comprises eight questions. Each question scoring ranges from one (no symptoms) to five (very severe symptoms) [7]. Median nerve area was measured using ultrasound (Esaote, my lab five, Italy). Linear 5–12 MHz probe was placed on distal wrist between pisiform bone medially and scaphoid bone laterally to provide short axis view of median nerve at its inlet to carpal tunnel. CSA of both median nerves was measured from inner border of epineurium. A CSA > 10 mm2 was considered to be diagnostic for CTS. CSA > 10 mm2 and less than 13 mm2 was considered mild, CSA > 13mm2 and less than 15 mm2 was considered moderate. CSA > 15mm2 was considered severe [8].
All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the faculty of medicine, Ain Shams University research and ethical committee. Written informed consent was obtained from participants for participation.
Statistical analysis: Statistical analyses were done using SPSS 25 (IBM SPSS ver. 25, NY, USA, 2017). Level of significance was defined as p < 0.05. T test was used for continuous variables (results are referred to as means ± standard deviation), and Chi square test for categorical ones (results are referred to as frequency and percentage). In addition, Kruskal–Wallis as well as Mann–Whitney Test were used in subgroup analysis. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to test correlation and prediction between related continuous variables.