Prevalence of Hypothyroidism Among Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Patients at a Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome have a high prevalence of hypothyroidism, therefore, it is recommended to assess thyroid function routinely in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. This study aims to determine the prevalence of hypothyroidism among carpal tunnel patients and to relate carpal tunnel in hypothyroidism to other socio-demographic factors. Methods This was a retrospective study carried out in King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 422 samples were collected conveniently from the files of patients who underwent carpal tunnel release surgery. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used for data processing. The chi-square test was used to test the association between the categorical variables. A p-value of less than .05 was considered to be significant. Results Most of the respondents were females and most of them within the age group of 46 to 60 years. Thirteen point eight percent (13.8%) of the respondents are suffering from hypothyroidism and 5% from the sub-clinical form of the disease. More than two-thirds of those with hypothyroidism were asymptomatic. The duration of the disease was one to five years, and bilateral nerve concerns were mostly present in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. The presence of thyroid abnormality doesn't affect the duration of carpal tunnel syndrome but body mass index (BMI) is significantly associated with hypothyroidism (p-value = .001). Conclusion Clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism are mostly absent in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Most patients with carpal tunnel syndrome have the disease for one to five years and this is not significantly associated with abnormal thyroid. Most patients have bilateral wrist involvement with no apparent symptoms and signs.