Dr. Eman Mohamed Abd-Elhakm Mohamed :: Publications:

Background: The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome is high in pregnant women. All pregnant women should be investigated for hand and wrist complaints in routine antenatal follow-up to ensure good quality of life during pregnancy. Aim: was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention about carpal tunnel syndrome on the pregnant women' knowledge, symptoms severity, and function status. Methods: Quasi-experimental design was utilized. The study was conducted at Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic, Benha University Hospital. A purposive sample of 100 pregnant women with carpal tunnel syndrome was included in the current study. Three tools were used for data collection; first tool; structured interview schedule including four parts: the subjects' demographic characteristics, obstetric history, current and past history of carpal tunnel syndrome and knowledge regarding CTS. Second tool: Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire, it composed of two scales; symptom severity scale and function status scale. Third tool: Visual pain analogue scale to assess the degree of pain. Results: showed that 58.0% of the participants were aged from 30-40 years, with a mean age 30.68 6.87 years, 78.0% of them were working, and 74% of them were overweight before pregnancy. There was general improvement (P< 0.000) after the intervention in the mean scores of the total knowledge, symptoms severity and function status as compared to before intervention. Furthermore, there were a positive, statistically significant correlation (P < 0.000) between studied pregnant women' symptoms severity scores and their function status pre and post intervention. Conclusion: The implementation of an educational intervention about carpal tunnel syndrome was effective in improving pregnant women's knowledge regarding carpal tunnel syndrome, declining their carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms severity, and improving their function status. Recommendation: Provide all pregnant women at antenatal clinics with a self-care guideline about CTS to improve their awareness.