Highlights
- •Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (CTQ), also known as Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, is a reliable, valid, and responsive measure for assessing impairments in individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome.
- •Given its condition-specific assessment, the CTQ showed superior reliability and responsiveness compared to regional measures such as Disability of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand or generic health status measures such as Short-Form 36.
- •Clinicians using CTQ can consider 0.72 as minimal detectable change at 90% confidence interval (MDC90) for Symptom Severity Scale and 0.79 as MDC90 for Function Status Scale.
- •Similarly, clinicians using CTQ can consider 1.05 as minimal clinically important difference for Symptom Severity Scale and 1.13 as minimal clinically important difference for Function Status Scale.
Abstract
Introduction
Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (CTQ) is widely used for assessing condition-specific
impairments in individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or for assessing outcomes
after carpal tunnel surgery (carpal tunnel release [CTR]). A systematic review of
its measurement properties can greatly facilitate its evidence-based use in clinical
practice. The purpose of this study was to systematically locate, appraise, and synthesize
the evidence concerning the reliability, responsiveness, validity, minimal detectable
change (MDC), and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the CTQ and its
scales.
Study Design
This is a systematic review of measurement properties.
Methods
Using predefined keywords, PubMed, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and ProQuest were searched to
locate primary studies that assessed measurement properties of the CTQ. The methodological
quality of the included studies was assessed using a standardized tool. Data concerning
the measurement properties were extracted and synthesized. The pooled estimates for
the indices of test-retest reliability, standard error of measurement, responsiveness,
MDC, and MCID were calculated from the included studies.
Results
A total of 34 articles were deemed eligible and included in this review. The methodological
quality of these 34 studies was generally good. Most studies suggested that the CTQ
and its scales had good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. However,
few studies found that the Symptom Severity Scale had more than one factor. The responsiveness
of the CTQ and its scales was excellent across the studies. The pooled estimates for
the MDC90 and MCID for Symptom Severity Scale/Functional Status Scale were 0.72/0.79 and 1.05/1.13,
respectively.
Discussion
The results of this review support the use of CTQ and its scales in assessing conditions-specific
impairments in individuals with CTS or after CTR. However, an effort should be made
to review and modify the content of the symptom severity scale due to multiple reports
challenging its unidimensional structure.
Conclusions
The totality of evidence emerging from this systematic review suggests that the CTQ
and its scales provide reliable and valid estimate of impairments resulting from CTS
or after CTR.
Keywords
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JHT Read for Credit
Quiz: # 713
Record your answers on the Return Answer Form found on the tear-out coupon at the back of this issue or to complete online and use a credit card, go to JHTReadforCredit.com. There is only one best answer for each question.
- # 1.The study design is
- a.RCTs
- b.a systematic review
- c.qualitative
- d.a case series
- a.
- # 2.The authors sought to appraise the __________________ of the CTQ
- a.MCID and MDC
- b.validity and reliability
- c.responsiveness
- d.all of the above
- a.
- # 3.The CTQ is typically used to assess
- a.outcomes after carpal tunnel release
- b.impairments from carpal tunnel syndrome
- c.a and b above
- d.none of the above
- a.
- # 4.Almost ________ articles were found
- a.25
- b.35
- c.75
- d.95
- a.
- # 5.The authors endorse the clinical use of the CTQ
- a.true
- b.false
- a.
When submitting to the HTCC for re-certification, please batch your JHT RFC certificates in groups of 3 or more to get full credit.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 07, 2020
Accepted:
December 31,
2019
Received in revised form:
December 9,
2019
Received:
July 14,
2019
Footnotes
Institutional review board approval was not required for this study.
Conflict of interest: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Hanley & Belfus, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
