The Relationship between Electrodiagnostic Findings and Sleep Disturbance in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Introduction: A controlled objective and subjective study which evaluated the correlation between insomnia severity and electrodiagnostic measures in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Methods: Sleep characteristics were monitored objectively throughout 4-9 nights by means of an actigraph. The following morning, participants filled out a “sleep log” that conveyed their subjective impressions as to how they had slept. All patients also completed a short insomnia instrument, the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). These finding were correlated to the patients’ motor latency and sensory latency.

Results: The ISI demonstrated that most of the patients had trouble with fragmentary sleep but had no problem with falling asleep or early waking. Most of the patients mentioned interference with daily functioning. We found no correlation between sensory or motor latency and all sleep measures.

Conclusions: Electrodiagnostic findings and patient CTS sleep severity appear to be independent measures