NCT02587897

Musculoskeletal Health of the Upper Extremity in Emerging Health Professionals

Sonographic Tissue Morphology in Early Stage Work-related Median Nerve Pathology

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 176 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Southern California · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most expensive upper extremity work-related musculoskeletal disorder, impacting 10 million people annually and costing employers up to $113,695 per incident. There is currently no established method to detect this disorder prior to the onset of symptoms and nerve damage. Preliminary research suggests that sonography-a relatively inexpensive, widely available, increasingly portable technology-can provide a non-invasive and pain-free method of early detection that could reduce incidence, improve targeted interventions and ultimately reduce costs. The primary aims of this study are to establish predictive validity of a novel method for early detection using sonographic imaging and to identify task components of intensive functional hand activity associated with morphologic changes.

Detailed description

This longitudinal study will follow dental hygiene students-a high-risk population with minimal retrospective and controlled prospective task exposure-for two years and compare them to a non-exposed cohort of occupational therapy students to investigate the primary aims. This research is directed at the National Occupational Research Agenda's (NORA) Healthcare and Social Assistance sector with a focus on the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) Exposure Assessment and Musculoskeletal Disorders cross-sectors. Intermediate outcomes of this research will establish sonographic imaging as an early detection tool for workplace-screening and inform methods for combining measures of nerve morphology, neurophysiology, and subjective symptoms for predicting the development of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome. This work will also inform the development of targeted preventive interventions for task components of intensive hand activities that are related to changes in tissue morphology. Identifying morphologic changes in early-stages of pathology and the specific task components linked to these changes are the first steps toward early detection and prevention of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome.

Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Academic Coursework	Didactic training provided by the university through coursework and laboratory training that meets requirements of the accreditation standards provided by the professional society associated with each professional degree granting program.
OTHER	Work-Related Hand Activities	Exposure to intensive training in the use of dental scaling tools as part of laboratory courses, as well as fieldwork and residency training during the academic degree program.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-07-01
• Primary completion: 2020-03-27
• Completion: 2023-06-07
• First posted: 2015-10-27
• Last updated: 2025-01-28

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: United States