Restless legs syndrome in a rheumatoid arthritis patient cohort

To use the 2003 International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) diagnostic criteria and to evaluate restless legs syndrome (RLS) prevalence in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) population. Further, we wished to evaluate physician awareness of this disorder by as reflected in prevalence of preexisting diagnoses of RLS in these populations.

This was a questionnaire study of Saskatchewan RA and OA patients enrolled in a longitudinal database study. A data collection instrument, including the 2003 IRLSSG criteria for RLS was distributed to the patients enrolled.

Of the 193 respondents, 158 (81.9%) were women. The population consisted of 148 RA and 45 OA patients. RA patients were younger (mean age, 65.8 years) in comparison with those in the OA group (mean age, 72.8 years; P < 0.001). All criteria for RLS were met by 27.7% of RA patients and by 24.4% of OA patients. A previous diagnosis of RLS was reported by 2.6% of patients.

A quarter of all our patients met the 2003 IRLSSG criteria, in both RA and OA groups; however, only 2.6% of study patients reported a previous diagnosis of RLS. As RLS can significantly affect quality of life, increased awareness with improvement in surveillance, recognition, and treatment would be beneficial to patient care. We advocate screening for symptoms of sleep disorders to be incorporated into the routine rheumatologic history for all patients with RA and OA.