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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Jul 20:12:251.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.131659.2. eCollection 2023.

Worldwide prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among dental health care personnel - A systematic review and meta-analysis

Deepika Chenna #  1 , Medhini Madi #  2 , Mathangi Kumar  2 , Vijay Kumar  3 , Sitaram Chopperla  4 , Abhinav Tadikonda  5 , Kalyana Pentapati  6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Worldwide prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among dental health care personnel - A systematic review and meta-analysis

Deepika Chenna et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Background: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is one such common disorder among dental health care personnel caused due to the entrapment neuropathy of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. We aimed to evaluate the pooled estimates of the CTS among dental healthcare personnel. Methods: We systematically reviewed the existing literature from six databases till January 1 st, 2022. Studies reported in English along with the prevalence of CTS or where prevalence could be calculated were included. Independent screening of title and abstracts, and the full text was done by two examiners. Information collected was authors, year of publication, geographic location, type of dental healthcare personnel, sample size, distribution of age, sex, CTS, method of diagnosis, and risk of bias. The random effect model was used to estimate the pooled estimates. Results: Thirty-seven studies yielded 38 estimates. A total of 17,152 dental health care personnel were included of which 2717 had CTS. The overall pooled prevalence of CTS among the included studies was 15%, with a high heterogeneity. Meta-analysis showed no significant difference in the pooled estimates of CTS between male and female dental healthcare personnel (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.52 -1.02; I 2= 69.71). The pooled estimates among the dentist and dental auxiliaries were 20% and 10%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of CTS with self-reported measures, clinical examination and NCS were 21%, 13% and 8% respectively. Meta-regression showed that the prevalence estimates were significantly associated with publication year (coefficient: 0.006; 95% CI= 0.002-0.01). Conclusion: One out of seven dental health care personnel may be affected by CTS. No significant difference was seen in the prevalence of CTS between male and female dental healthcare personnel.

Keywords: Carpal Tunnel; Dental auxiliaries; Dental students; Dentist; Pain.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests were disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. PRISMA flowchart.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Forest plot showing the pooled prevalence of CTS.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Forest plot showing the age differences with CTS.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Forest plot showing the sex differences in the prevalence of CTS.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.. Forest plot showing standardized mean difference in clinical experience with the prevalence of CTS.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.. Forest plot showing clinical experience with the prevalence of CTS.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.. Funnel plot for publication bias.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.. Meta-regression showing the time trends in the prevalence of CTS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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