The Relationship Between Ultrasonographic Findings and Sleep Quality in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Pain intensity was measured with visual analogue scale for pain (0-10 mm; 0 means no pain, 10 means severe pain) which is used to measure musculoskeletal pain with very good reliability and validity.

The Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) is a frequently used questionnaire for CTS that includes 2 components. It evaluates for grading under two sub-headings: symptom severity scale (11 questions) and functional status scale (8 questions). Scores range from 0 to 5 for each question; 0 represents no difficulty during the activity, 5 represents extremely severe dysfunction.

The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve will be used for analysis by the mean value of 3 measurements made with an electronic caliper at scaphoid-pisiform level. Ultrasonographic evaluations were planned to be performed with the 10-18-MHz linear probe of the MyLab 70 (Esaote, Genova, Italy) device by a physician experienced in US.

CSA values increase as clinical findings worsen.

The patients will be evaluated as mild-moderate-severe CTS according to the criteria of the American Academy of Neurology.

The hand grip strength of the participants will be measured with the "Jamar Hand Dynamometer". Measurements will be made with the shoulder in adduction and neutral rotation adjacent to the trunk, elbow 90 degrees flexed, wrist 0-30 degrees dorsiflexion and 0-15 degrees ulnar deviation with thumb up. Finger grip strength will be evaluated with the "Jamar Digital Pinchmeter". Patients will be placed in the sitting position with the wrist in 90° flexion and the forearm in the neutral position. Measurements will be made bilaterally in three different positions as lateral, palmar and fingertip grips. Patients will be asked to squeeze with maximum force and each measurement will be made three times, and their averages will be recorded in kg. The dynamometer has a dual scale readout which displays isometric grip force from 0-90 kg. Higher scores means better grip strength.

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a questionnaire that assesses sleep patterns and sleep quality in adults. The measure consists subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping pills, and daytime dysfunction in the past month. The global score of PUKI and each sub-parameter will be calculated and recorded separately. According to the PSQI, "good sleepers" are defined as a PSQI score = <5 and "bad sleepers" as PSQI > 5.