Evaluation of PEM (Patient Evaluation Measurement) in carpal tunnel syndrome

Patient rated scales for the evaluation of treatment are generally subjective as they consist of functional and psychological individualities. Despite those scales are subjective by nature, they are effective in assessing the patient satisfaction and functionality of treated hand.
Aim: Our aim was to assess the patient satisfaction in a series of carpal tunnel syndrome, by using PEM (Patient Evaluation Measurement) and Boston Questionnaire, then to evaluate the correlation between two scales.
Patients and Methods: 32 wrists (8 subjects double sided) of 24 patients (mean age 50.4) whereas 3 are male and 21 are female, who applied to our clinics in 2006 and 2007 were included into our study. Twelve wrists were right hand side and twenty were left hand side. 5 patients were suffering type II diabetes mellitus and 3 were having smoking history. The average “symptom to surgery” time was 26 months. Boston questionnaire and PEM scale were applied preoperatively and postoperatively (6 months) to the subjects who went under “mini-open” carpal tunnel release. Data from both scales were analysed by using SPSS (version 11.5) statistics software.
Results: Results from both scales demonstrate effective recovery after surgical treatment. PEM was found to be correlated with Boston Functional Rating Sub-scale and Complaint-based Rating Sub-scale, moderately and poorly, respectively.
Discussion and Conclusion: In reference to Boston questionnaire as a scale in use for a long time, PEM was considered to be a low cost, easy-to-use scale that rates the patient satisfaction in carpal tunnel syndrome.

PEM (Hasta Memnuniyet Ölçeði) anketi ile karpal tünel tedavisinin deðerlendirilmesi

Tedavi deðerlendirmesine yönelik hasta anketleri, kiþinin bedensel ve psikolojik açýdan bireysellik içerdiðinden öznel bir karaktere sahiptir. Bu anketler öznel yapýsýna raðmen hasta memnuniyetini ve tedavi edilen elin iþlevselliðini ölçmede oldukça etkindir.
Amaç: Bir seri karpal tünel sendromu olgusunda PEM (hasta memnuniyet ölçeði) ve Boston anketi kullanarak hasta memnuniyetini ölçmek ve kullanýlan iki ölçek arasýndaki korelasyonu ortaya koymaktý.
Hastalar ve Yöntem: Kliniðimizde 2006-2007 tarihleri arasýnda karpal tünel sendromu tanýsý ile cerrahi tedavi uygulanan 3’ü erkek, 21’i kadýn toplam 24 hastanýn (ortalama yaþ 50. 4) 32 el bileði (8 olguda çift taraflý tutulum)bu çalýþmaya alýndý. On üç (%40,6) el bileðinde sol, on dokuz (%59,4) el bileðinde ise sað taraf tutulumu vardý. 5 (%20,8) hastada Diabetus Mellitus Tip II, 3 (%12,5) hastada ise kronik sigara tüketimi öyküsü vardý. Yakýnmalarýn ortaya çýkmasý ile cerrahi giriþim arasýnda geçen süre 26 aydý. “Mini-open” karpal tünel gevþetmesi uygulanan hastalara ameliyat öncesi ve sonrasý (6.ay) Boston (Levine) anketi ve PEM (Hasta Memnuniyet Ölçeði) anketi uygulandý. Her iki anketin verileri, SPSS 11. 5 programýnda istatistiksel olarak incelendi.
Bulgular: Her iki anketin sonuçlarýna göre cerrahi tedavi ile etkin bir iyileþme saðlandýðý saptandý. Boston iþlevsel deðerlendirme alt-ölçeði ile PEM sonuçlarý arasýnda orta düzeyde, Boston hasta yakýnmalarýna dayalý deðerlendirme alt-ölçeði ile PEM arasýnda ise düþük seviyede korelasyon bulundu.
Tartýþma ve Sonuç: Bu çalýþmada, uzun yýllardan bu yana kullanýmda olan Boston anketine kýyasla PEM anketinin; düþük maliyetli, kolay uygulanabilen ve hasta memnuniyetini deðerlendirebilen bir yöntem olduðu saptandý.