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. 2023 May 30;13(6):915.
doi: 10.3390/jpm13060915.

Restless Legs Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease

Ştefania Diaconu  1   2 , Laura Irincu  1   2 , Larisa Ungureanu  1   2 , Bogdan Ciopleiaș  1   2 , Diana Țînț  2   3 , Cristian Falup-Pecurariu  1   2
Affiliations

Restless Legs Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease

Ştefania Diaconu et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) might worsen sleep quality and quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD).

Objective: The main aim of the present study is to explore the associations between RLS and sleep, quality of life and other non-motor symptoms (NMS) in a sample of PwPD.

Methods: We compared the clinical features of 131 PwPD with and without RLS, in a cross-sectional study. We used several validated scales for assessment: the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale (IRLS), Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale version 2 (PDSS-2), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQ) and International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Non-Motor Rating Scale (MDS-NMS).

Results: Thirty-five patients (26.71%) out of the total PwPD met the RLS diagnostic criteria, without significant differences between male (57.14%) and female (42.87%) (p = 0.431). Higher total scores of PDSS-2 were recorded among PwPD + RLS (p < 0.001), suggesting worse sleep quality. Significant correlations were observed between the diagnosis of RLS and some types of pain (especially nocturnal pain), physical fatigue and probable sleep-disordered breathing, according to the MDS-NMSS assessment.

Conclusions: RLS has a high frequency in PwPD and it requires proper management, considering its consequences on sleep and quality of life.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; fatigue; non-motor symptoms; pain; restless legs syndrome; sleep quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

C.F.-P. received royalties from Elsevier and Springer Verlag, honoraria from Abbvie and the International Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society, outside of the present work. D.Ț. received honoraria from Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Novartis, and Astra Zeneca outside of the present work. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The last author is currently co-Editor of the Special Issue.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean scores in the dimensions of PDQ 39 between the two groups. Significant differences were marked with asterisk (*), and were seen in the dimension bodily discomfort (p < 0.001) and PDQ 39 total score (p = 0.046); Mann–Whitney U Test. PD: Parkinson’s disease; PDQ-39: Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire; PwPD: people with Parkinson’s disease; RLS: restless legs syndrome.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean scores in the applied scaled between the two groups (PwPD + RLS vs. PwPD − RLS); Mann–Whitney U Test. ESS: Epworth Sleepiness Scale; ISI: Insomnia Severity Index; PD: Parkinson’s disease; PDQ-39: Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire; PDSS-2: Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale 2; PwPD: people with Parkinson’s disease; RLS: restless legs syndrome.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Severity of PDSS-2 scores, in accordance with the severity of the IRLS scale (1 = mild; 2 = moderate; 3 = severe). IRLS: International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale; PDSS-2: Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale-2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Severity of the MDS-NMS total score, in accordance with the severity of the IRLS scale (1 = mild; 2 = moderate; 3 = severe). IRLS: International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale; MDS-NMSS: International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Non-Motor Rating Scale; PD: Parkinson’s disease. The ° represents an outlier from the median score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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