RLS in middle aged women and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in their offspring
Xiang Gao1, Kristen Lyall, Natalia Palacios
1Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. xiang.gao@channing.harvard.edu
Background:
Previous studies have suggested that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) could share some common genetic backgrounds, but the effect of these genetic components could be modest. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a large-scaled cross-sectional study to examine whether women with a child with ADHD had a higher risk of having RLS than women of unaffected children.
Methods:
We included 65,554 women free of diabetes, arthritis, and pregnancy in the current analyses. Information on RLS was assessed using a set of standardized questions. Participants were considered to have RLS if they met four RLS diagnostic criteria recommended by the International RLS Study Group and had restless legs ≥5 times/month. Information on ADHD in offspring was collected via questionnaire.
Results:
We observed a significant association between presence of ADHD in the offspring and risk of having RLS; the multivariate-adjusted OR for RLS was 1.27 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.41; P<0.0001), after adjusting for age, body mass index, number of deliveries during life time and other covariates.
Conclusion:
We found that mothers of children with ADHD had an increased risk of having RLS. Further studies are warranted to explore biological mechanisms underling this association.
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