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Restless legs syndrome in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease
Giuseppina Talarico1, M Canevelli, G Tosto
1Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy. giuseppina.talarico@uniroma1.it
Background:
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by the urge to move the legs associated with peculiar unpleasant sensations during periods of rest and inactivity that are relieved by movement. A few studies analyzed RLS in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of RLS in a cohort of AD patients.
Methods:
Three hundred and thirty-nine subjects with a diagnosis of AD were recruited. Cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric measures were collected at baseline and six-monthly for a 2-years follow-up
Results:
Fourteen subjects met the RLS criteria. RLS subjects were more frequently male (p:0,006) and younger than AD subject without RLS (p:0,029). MMSE, ADL and IADL were not significantly different. NPI total scores did not differ significantly, however, AD patients with RLS were found to be more apathetic (p:0,001) than AD subjects without RLS.
Conclusion:
RLS prevalence in our AD cohort was estimated to be about 4%. RLS appeared to be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy. RLS and apathy might share a common pathophysiological basis represented by a dysfunction of the central dopaminergic system.
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