Epidemiology of restless legs syndrome as diagnosed in UK primary care

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder with a general-population prevalence of 5-10%. Although, data on the prevalence of clinically diagnosed RLS are limited, and there are none regarding incidence, a shortfall compared with general-population values is likely, as not all patients are driven to consult. There may also be poor awareness of the condition among primary care physicians (PCPs).

The General Practice Research Database was used to gather prevalence and incidence data from UK PCPs and to investigate PCP awareness over the period 1994-1998. A total of 1,561,692 persons were covered by the database on January 1, 1999.

A diagnosis of RLS was registered in 3877 patients, giving a prevalence of 0.25%. Incidence values were also low (41.0 per 100,000 person-years), increased with age and were higher in women than in men. Although, at least one RLS diagnosis was made in 94% of medium-to-large practices, sufferers were more likely than age/sex-matched controls to be diagnosed with conditions commonly confused with RLS in 2 years before receiving their RLS diagnosis. Furthermore, at the time of diagnosis, many sufferers were prescribed medications not effective in RLS (principally, oxerutins and quinine).

These data are largely consistent with a lack of awareness of RLS among PCPs in the UK in the period studied.