Suspected carpal tunnel syndrome: Do nerve conduction study results and symptoms match?

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Comparison of groups with positive and negative NCS results

VARIABLE	POSITIVE NCS RESULTS N = 121	NEGATIVE NCS RESULTS N = 90	PVALUE (2-TAILED)	95% CI
Mean (SD) age, y	49.08 (12.92)	43.54 (10.45)	.001	−8.81 to −2.26
Male, %	27.3	24.4	.643	NC
Mean (SD) symptom duration, mo	33.07 (49.53)	24.21(25.63)	.095	−19.26 to 1.55
Mean (SD) BMI	30.61 (6.82)	27.45 (5.5)	< .001	−4.89 to −1.43
Mean (SD) Levine symptomatic score^*	29.82 (7.46)	27.34 (7.01)	.016^†	−4.50 to −0.47
Mean (SD) Levine functional score^*	15.40 (5.52)	14.58 (4.87)	.267	−2.27 to 0.63
Missed work, %(n = 29)	55.2	44.8	.855	NC
WCB cases, % (n = 13)	38.5	61.5	.215	NC

BMI—body mass index, CI—confidence interval, NC—not calculated, NCS—nerve conduction study, SD—standard deviation, WCB—Workers’ Compensation Board.
↵* Minimum and maximum cumulative symptom scores on the Levine scoring instrument are 11 and 55, respectively; minimum and maximum cumulative function scores are 8 and 40, respectively. Higher scores are associated with greater severity of disease.
↵† Not significant when corrected for multiple comparisons.

Table 2.

Comparison of patient symptom lateralization and NCS results