Bashar Reada, Nawaf Alshaebi, Khalid Almaghrabi, Abdullah Alshuaibi, Arwa Abulnaja, Khames Alzahrani

Abstract

Introduction: De Quervain's tenosynovitis is characterized by inflammation and thickening of the tendons of the extensor pollicis brevis and abductor pollicis longus muscles and the synovial sheath, leading to a common cause of wrist pain that typically occurs in adults. This condition has been given several other names such as texting tenosynovitis, BlackBerry thumb, washerwoman's sprain, gamer’s thumb, teen texting tendonitis, WhatsAppitis, and radial styloid tenosynovitis, all of which involve repeated thumb pinching and wrist movement. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of de Quervain’s tenosynovitis among students using smartphones in Saudi Arabia. Many studies have been conducted on this disease in other countries, but not many have been performed in Saudi Arabia. Our aim was to obtain more information about the disease prevalence among students in Saudi Arabia. Our secondary objective was to determine the correlation of the condition with different demographics and risk factors in our study population, such as age, sex, and time spent texting. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study based on web-survey questionnaires for students developed by the authors with high confidence to review the prevalence of De Quervain's tenosynovitis in Saudi Arabia. The sample size was 338 estimated using the Qualtrics calculator with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%. The sample was collected from March 2020 to May 2020. The inclusion criteria were as follows: aged 15–40 years and private or public students who agreed to participate in this study. Those who were younger than 15 or older than 40 years, were not students, or those who had a previous pathology that was diagnosed in either wrist were excluded. The correlation with risk factors was calculated using means and percentages using SPSS software. Results: A total of 338 participants responded to the survey. More than half of them had a positive result in the Finkelstein test (233 [68.9%]) and more than half of them (192 [56.8%]) were females. The age of participants ranged from 15 to 40 years, and more than half of them aged 21–25 years (184 [54.4%]). Regarding the field of study, over half of the participants were students in the medical field (170 [50.3%]). There was a positive correlation between the duration of phone use and the development of the condition (p = 0.003). Conclusion: Our study was conducted to demonstrate the association between the use of smartphones and de Quervain's tenosynovitis in students throughout Saudi Arabia, including medical and non-medical students, raising public awareness regarding the risk factors that can lead to this condition since 68.9% had a positive result in the Finkelstein test. There was a positive correlation between the duration of phone use and the presence of de Quervain’s syndrome; although more studies need to be conducted to confirm the causal association, we recommend limiting phone usage among students. Furthermore, the Finkelstein test should be performed under supervision to avoid any chances of false-negative results.