Carpal tunnel syndrome and computers

Use of a computer at work does not appear to cause carpal tunnel syndrome, American researchers report.

That is the somewhat surprising result of a recent study in Neurology (2001; 56:1568-70; www.neurology.org), in which researchers found that rates of carpal tunnel syndrome were no different among computer users than in the general population.

“We wanted to do this study because conventional wisdom says that using a computer increases your risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome,” explains Dr. J. Clarke Stevens, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The assumption that computer use at work can cause the syndrome is deeply ingrained, as the Web sites of organizations like the Canadian Arthritis Society (www.arthritis.ca) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (www.ccohs.ca) show.

To test the theory, Stevens issued questionnaires to 257 frequent computer users at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. The participants all used computers for an average of 6 hours per day, as well as having similar occupations and length of work experience.

The questionnaire determined that 10.5% of respondents had symptoms that could be attributed to carpal tunnel syndrome. These respondents went into the lab to undergo nerve conduction tests to confirm the diagnosis. The tests found that only 9 of the original 257 respondents actually had the syndrome. This incidence of 3.5% is similar to the rate in the general population.

“These percentages are similar to ones found in other studies looking at how often carpal tunnel [syndrome] occurs in the general population and not just among computer users,” says Stevens.

Stevens stressed that computer use can still lead to problems. “There are a lot of aches and pains associated with computer use,” he says. “We just found that, at least in this group, frequent computer use doesn't seem to cause this syndrome.”