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Anatomic distribution of sensory symptoms in the hand and their relation to neck pain, psychosocial variables, and occupational activities

Anatomic distribution of sensory symptoms in the hand and their relation to neck pain, psychosocial variables, and occupational activities
Anatomic distribution of sensory symptoms in the hand and their relation to neck pain, psychosocial variables, and occupational activities
To explore whether different distributions of numbness and tingling in the hand can be usefully distinguished in epidemiologic studies of disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, the authors used a postal questionnaire, an interview, and a physical examination to collect information about risk factors, symptoms, and signs from a general population sample of 2,142 adults in Southampton, England, during 1998–2000. The authors distinguished six distributions of numbness and tingling and compared their associations with other clinical findings and with known risk factors for upper limb disorders. Distinctive relations were found for symptoms that involved most of the palmar surface of the first three digits but not the dorsum of the hand or the little finger. Such symptoms were more often associated with positive Phalen’s and Tinel’s tests and, unlike other categories of sensory disturbance, were not related to neck pain or restriction of neck movement. They also differed in showing no association with lower vitality or poorer mental health but an association with repeated wrist and finger movements at work. These findings suggest that, in the classification of numbness and tingling of the hand, it may be useful to distinguish symptoms that involve most of the sensory distribution of the median nerve but not other parts of the hand.
social environment, questionnaires, male, england, hypesthesia, carpal tunnel syndrome, diagnosis, movement, fingers, epidemiology, wrist, neck pain, middle aged, hand, risk, activity, risk factors, population, physical examination, adult, non-u.s.gov't, research support, classification, health, neck, paresthesia, epidemiologic studies, syndrome, pain, female, occupations, complications, prevalence, humans, environmental
0002-9262
524-530
Reading, Isabel
6f832276-87b7-4a76-a9ed-b4b3df0a3f66
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Palmer, Keith T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Coggon, David
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Reading, Isabel
6f832276-87b7-4a76-a9ed-b4b3df0a3f66
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Palmer, Keith T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Coggon, David
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3

Reading, Isabel, Walker-Bone, Karen, Palmer, Keith T., Cooper, Cyrus and Coggon, David (2003) Anatomic distribution of sensory symptoms in the hand and their relation to neck pain, psychosocial variables, and occupational activities. American Journal of Epidemiology, 157 (6), 524-530. (doi:10.1093/aje/kwf225).

Record type: Article

Abstract

To explore whether different distributions of numbness and tingling in the hand can be usefully distinguished in epidemiologic studies of disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, the authors used a postal questionnaire, an interview, and a physical examination to collect information about risk factors, symptoms, and signs from a general population sample of 2,142 adults in Southampton, England, during 1998–2000. The authors distinguished six distributions of numbness and tingling and compared their associations with other clinical findings and with known risk factors for upper limb disorders. Distinctive relations were found for symptoms that involved most of the palmar surface of the first three digits but not the dorsum of the hand or the little finger. Such symptoms were more often associated with positive Phalen’s and Tinel’s tests and, unlike other categories of sensory disturbance, were not related to neck pain or restriction of neck movement. They also differed in showing no association with lower vitality or poorer mental health but an association with repeated wrist and finger movements at work. These findings suggest that, in the classification of numbness and tingling of the hand, it may be useful to distinguish symptoms that involve most of the sensory distribution of the median nerve but not other parts of the hand.

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More information

Published date: 2003
Keywords: social environment, questionnaires, male, england, hypesthesia, carpal tunnel syndrome, diagnosis, movement, fingers, epidemiology, wrist, neck pain, middle aged, hand, risk, activity, risk factors, population, physical examination, adult, non-u.s.gov't, research support, classification, health, neck, paresthesia, epidemiologic studies, syndrome, pain, female, occupations, complications, prevalence, humans, environmental

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25927
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25927
ISSN: 0002-9262
PURE UUID: 3d8a18a6-56e7-4044-8627-94dc5af83760
ORCID for Isabel Reading: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1457-6532
ORCID for Karen Walker-Bone: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-1459
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709
ORCID for David Coggon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1930-3987

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Date deposited: 20 Apr 2006
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:51

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Contributors

Author: Isabel Reading ORCID iD
Author: Keith T. Palmer
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD
Author: David Coggon ORCID iD

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