Prevalence of restless legs and association with patient-reported outcome measures in myasthenia gravis
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Updated: Jun 12, 2025
Measurements of Motor Function and Other Clinical Outcome Parameters in Ambulant Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Published on: January 12, 2019
Mohanad AlGaeed1, Tarrant McPherson2, Ikjae Lee3
1Department of Neurology & Rehabilitation Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC.
Study Objectives:
Inflammatory and immune mechanisms are considered in restless legs syndrome (RLS) pathophysiology with several autoimmune diseases associated with RLS. There is a paucity of studies examining RLS prevalence in myasthenia gravis (MG), an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. This study investigated RLS prevalence and association with patient-reported measures in a large registry of participants with MG using a validated RLS diagnostic questionnaire.
Methods:
The Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America MG Patient Registry is used on a semiannual basis to survey participants with MG. Patients aged ≥ 18 years, living in the United States, and answering "yes" to physician diagnosed MG were invited by email to enroll in an RLS-customized web-based survey. Collection of data included demographics, disease variables, patient-reported measures with a simple depression scale, MG-quality of life-15 revised, MG-activities of daily living instruments, and 13-item short-form Cambridge-Hopkins diagnostic questionnaire for RLS. Multivariable logistic regression models explored the association between RLS and MG variables of interest.
Results:
A total of 630 eligible participants with MG (age: 62.8 ± 13.2; 54.9% female; 91.6% White) completed the survey. The overall prevalence of RLS was 14.8%. The prevalence of clinically significant RLS was 8.4%. The odds of having RLS were increased with higher (worse) MG-activities of daily living, MG-quality of life-15 revised, and depression scores. History of "thymic tumor with thymectomy" and "continuous positive airway pressure therapy" were also independent predictors of RLS.
Conclusions:
RLS is common in patients with MG and is associated with worse functional status, quality of life, and depression. The thymus could play a key role in an autoimmune process associating MG with RLS.
Citation:
AlGaeed M, McPherson T, Lee I, et al. Prevalence of restless legs and association with patient-reported outcome measures in myasthenia gravis. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(2):269-276.
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