Cross-Sectional Studies That Found an Association between Occupational Exposure and CTS
| Author | No. of Patients. | Setting | Measurement of Occupational Exposure | CTS Diagnostic Criteria | Controlling of confounding factors | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiang et al 21 | 207 | Two frozen food plants | Observation | S, PE, NCV | Age, gender, length of employment | Strongly positive association between repetition and CTS (OR = 7.40) | Excluded the subjects with medical condition that can cause CTS |
| Latko et al26 | 352 | Three companies | Observation | S, PE, NCV | Age, gender | Positive association with repetition (OR = 3.1) | |
| Osorio et al20 | 56 | Grocery store | Observation | S, PE, NCV | Age, gender, alcohol assumption and high-risk medical history | Strongly positive association (OR = 6.7) | |
| Silverstein et al14 | 652 | Active workers in 39 jobs from 7 different industrial sites | Observation, (EMG) recordings | S, PE | Demographic information including age, gender, years on the job, etc | Strongly positive association between high force-high repetitive job and CTS prevalence (OR = 15) | CTS diagnosis was not confirmed by NCV |
| Stetson et al16 | 345 | Industrial workers | Observation and workers interview | S, NCV | Age, height, skin temperature and finger circumference | Positive association between ergonomic factors and NCV finding | |
| Werner et al25 | 184 | Six work sites | Observation | S, NCV | Demographic, anthropometric, history of diabetes and psychosocial factors | Positive association |
CTS, carpal tunnel syndrome; EMG, electromyelogram; S, self-report; PE, physical examination; NCV, nerve conduction velocity.