Commuting and Carpal Tunnel: Transportation Modality as a Predictor of Symptom Burden in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Background and/or Objectives: Certain socioeconomic factors have been linked to greater functional impairment in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), but the impact of transportation modality remains unexplored. This study tests the hypothesis that patients who rely on public transportation to attend medical appointments exhibit higher symptom severity than those who drive themselves or are transported by caregivers.

Design: Survey-based cross-sectional study.

Setting : Three orthopedic surgery outpatient clinics.

Participants : 25 patients with a diagnosis of CTS based on clinical and sonographic findings.

Interventions: A written survey consisting of two sections was administered to each patient. The first section asked participants to identify their primary mode of transportation to medical appointments: public transportation (PT), self-driving (SD), or caregiver transport (CT). The second section included the full Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ).

Main Outcome Measures: Patients were categorized by primary transportation modality into one of three groups. Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) scores were calculated for each group to assess CTS symptom severity and functional status.

Results: Patients relying on PT had significantly higher BCTQ scores than both SD and CT patients combined (mean score: 59.7 vs. 50.1; p=0.042), indicating greater symptom burden.

Conclusions: Patients with CTS who rely on PT for medical appointments experience greater disease burden than those utilizing private transport. Transportation contributes to healthcare access disparities and should be considered as a crucial barrier to orthopedic care.