Highlights
- •Persons with physical disability frequently develop new carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
- •Leg lean tissue percentage is negatively related to the risk of developing new CTS.
- •Subjects with a leg lean tissue percentage <12% are at risk of developing CTS.
Abstract
Objective
To identify the association between body composition and newly developed carpal tunnel
syndrome (CTS) and to search for the best probabilistic cutoff value of associated
factors to predict subjects with physical disabilities developing new CTS.
Design
Longitudinal.
Setting
University-affiliated medical center.
Participants
Subjects with physical disabilities (N=47; mean age ± SD, 42.1±7.7y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Median and ulnar sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) were measured at the initial
and follow-up tests (interval >2y). Total and regional body composition were measured
with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at the initial test. Leg lean tissue percentage
was calculated to delineate each participant's manual loading degree during locomotion.
Leg lean tissue percentage is the lean tissue mass of both legs divided by body weight.
Results
Based on median SNCV changes, we divided all participants into 3 groups: subjects
with bilateral CTS (median SNCV value <45m/s plus a normative ulnar SNCV value >37.8m/s)
in the initial test (n=10), subjects with newly developed CTS in the follow-up test
(n=8), and subjects without additional CTS in the follow-up test (n=27). Eight of
35 subjects not having bilateral CTS initially developed new CTS (8.8% per year; mean
follow-up period, 2.6y). Leg lean tissue percentage was associated with the probability
of newly developed CTS (adjusted odds ratio, .64; P<.05). Subjects with a leg lean tissue percentage >12% were less likely to have developed
new CTS at the follow-up test (sensitivity, .75; specificity, .85; area under the
curve, .88; P<.005).
Conclusions
Leg lean tissue percentage may be useful for early identification of developing new
CTS in subjects with physical disabilities. Therefore, a preventive program for those
subjects at risk can start early.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
BMI (body mass index), CTS (carpal tunnel syndrome), DXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), LTM (lean tissue mass), ROC (receiver operating characteristic), SNCV (sensory nerve conduction velocity)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 09, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (grant no. TMU102-AE1-B18).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
