Patient experiences and perspectives of health service access for carpal tunnel syndrome in Aotearoa New Zealand: a normalisation process theory-informed qualitative study

Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion	Exclusion
Clinical symptoms^a ≥3 months Age ≥ 18 years Resident or working in Otago or Southland. Can communicate in English language independently or with support person. Provide written informed consent	Unclear diagnosis and no nerve conduction study. Cervical radiculopathy Acute trauma past 3 months ≥ 1-year post-carpal tunnel surgery or resolution of symptoms.

^a History of paraesthesia in the distribution of the median nerve, pain, swelling, weakness or clumsiness of the hand provoked or worsened by sleep, sustained hand or arm position, repetitive action of the hand or wrist that is mitigated by changing posture or by shaking the hand, and/or sensory deficits in the median innervated region of the hand, and/or motor deficit or atrophy of the median innervated thenar muscles; other causes excluded [3]

ISSN: 1472-6963