Risk of restless legs syndrome in low socioeconomic rheumatoid arthritis patients

Our aim was to determine the frequency of restless leg syndrome (RLS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from a low socioeconomic area of Pakistan and compare results with a control group to evaluate the effect of variables on RLS patients.

A clinical observational study was carried out on 240 RA patients form low socioeconomic group. Controls (n = 210) were frequency-matched by age group to the RA patients. We evaluated the presence of RLS and collected information on characteristics believed to be correlated with RLS in the general population. Multiple logistic regression models were used to study the association between RLS and other risk factors such as age, smoking status, and obesity.

Among all rheumatic patients seen at our rheumatology clinic, 70.8% were women. Our study shows that 20% of RA patients were suffering from RLS compared with 10% of the control group with other rheumatic diseases. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age, obesity, and smoking also showed that women with RA were more likely to have RLS than control patients. RLS was also significantly associated with increasing age, high body mass index, and smoking status.

Approximately 20% of RA patients were suffering from RLS. Hence, there is need of increase awareness of RLS among rheumatologists to enhance early RLS diagnosis and appropriate management of this treatable condition.