According to a newly published meta-analysis of obesity and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), they chalk up another problem caused by being overweight. The meta-analysis was performed on 58 studies of 1, 379, 372 individuals. Researchers reported that the risk of CTS is 7.4% with each unit increase of body mass index.
New Study Quantifies Obesity Effect on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
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The study, which is titled “The effect of excess body mass on the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome: a meta-analysis of 58 studies” and was published in the journal Obesity Reviews, tried to estimate the effects of overweight and obesity on carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and to assess whether gender modifies the associations.
The four researchers who conducted the study performed literature searches in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and Research Gate databases from 1953 to February 2015.
Using a random-effects meta-analysis the researchers assessed heterogeneity and publication bias, and performed sensitivity analyses.
They found that being overweight increased the risk of CTS or carpal tunnel release in patients 1.5-fold (pooled confounder-adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.47, 95% CI 1.37–1.57, N = 1, 279, 546) and obesity twofold (adjusted OR = 2.02, 95% CI 1.92–2.13, N = 1, 362, 207).
Each one-unit increase in body mass index increased the risk of CTS by 7.4% (adjusted OR = 1.074, 95% CI 1.071–1.077, N = 1, 258, 578). The fact of being overweight and obese, said the researchers, had a stronger effect on carpal tunnel release than CTS. Furthermore, they found that the associations did not differ between men or women, and they were independent of study design. Moreover, the associations were not due to bias or confounding.
Bottom line, said the researchers, excess body mass markedly increases the risk of CTS.
The study was conducted by R. Shiri, M. H. Pourmemari, K. Falah-Hassani and E. Viikari-Juntura and it was first published online on September 23, 2015 and in the December edition of Obesity Reviews Volume 16, Issue 12, pages 1094–1104.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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