Assessment

Boston Carpal Tunnel Outcomes Questionnaire (BCTQ)

~7 Minutes to Administer
No Training to Administer
Free / No Cost
External Assessment

Practice Settings

Outpatient Clinics

Focus Areas

Hand Therapy
Orthopedics & Musculoskeletal

Practice Populations

Adults
Geriatrics

What It Measures

The Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) is the standard patient-reported measure for carpal tunnel syndrome. Rather than testing the hand, it asks the person about their own experience over the past two weeks — how bad the symptoms are and what the hand can still do.

Two scales run separately. The Symptom Severity Scale has 11 questions covering pain, tingling, numbness, weakness, night-time symptoms, and trouble gripping. The Functional Status Scale has 8 questions rating difficulty with everyday hand tasks such as writing, buttoning, holding a book, and opening jars. Each item is scored 1 to 5, and each scale is averaged rather than summed, giving two scores from 1 to 5 where higher means worse. The two are reported separately, not combined.

Further Reading

Additional Notes

Learn More: The minimal clinically important difference for the Symptom Severity Scale is about 1.0 point, so a drop of a full point after treatment reflects change the person actually notices. No definitive MCID has been established for the Functional Status Scale.

Related Assessments

~5 Minutes
FREE

Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE)

Hand Therapy, Orthopedics & Musculoskeletal
~10 Minutes
FREE

QuickDASH

Hand Therapy, Orthopedics & Musculoskeletal
~20 Minutes
FREE

Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH)

Hand Therapy, Orthopedics & Musculoskeletal, Rheumatic Diseases
~3 Minutes
~$30

9-Hole Peg Test

Hand Therapy, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurorehabilitation, Parkinson’s, Stroke
Disclaimer
We do our best to keep the Assessment details up-to-date, but please verify all information before deciding to use an assessment. If you find any information that needs to be updated, please contact us.