Psychological Status Is Associated With Symptom Severity in Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether psychological status is associated with symptom severity or functional disability of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients diagnosed with CTS and treated with carpal tunnel release (CTR) were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 3 validated measures obtained before and 3 months after surgery. The Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) was administered to assess symptoms (BCTQ-S) and functional disabilities (BCTQ-F), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS) were administered to assess depression and pain anxiety. The preoperative scores and those obtained 3 months after CTR were compared. Bivariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine whether the variance of CES-D and PASS scores are associated with the variance of symptom severity or functional disability of CTS patients.

RESULTS: The CES-D and PASS scores significantly improved after surgery. In a multivariable linear regression model, the CES-D and PASS scores were significantly associated with the BCTQ-S scores both before and 3 months after surgery. In addition, the changes in CES-D and PASS scores were significantly associated with the change in BCTQ-S scores.

CONCLUSIONS: The depression level and pain anxiety of CTS patients were significantly improved at 3 months after CTR. The depression level and pain anxiety were significantly associated with the CTS symptoms in both the preoperative and the postoperative period. In addition, the improvement of depression and pain anxiety were associated with the improvement of CTS symptoms. Thus, our findings indicate that the depression and pain anxiety of CTS patients are associated with the symptom severity of CTS.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic II.