Incidence of Restless Legs Syndrome in Pakistan and Its Relationship With Depression, Gender, and Age: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder known to cause an uncomfortable feeling in the legs, that is alleviated by movement and the symptoms are worse at night or in the evening This study aims to find out the prevalence of restless legs syndrome in Pakistan and to investigate whether it has any association with depression, gender or age.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample size of 377 was calculated using Raosoft. However, 400 participants were included after informed verbal consent, but after 20 dropouts, 380 sample size was finalized. The diagnosis of RLS was done by International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) diagnostic criteria, the diagnosis of depression and its severity was checked by Becks Depression Inventory. A series of tests, namely, descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent sample t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were calculated via SPSS Software version 27.Results: The prevalence of RLS in Pakistan is 23.7%. There was no difference in depression score with respect to RLS (F=0.270, p=0.604), and there was no difference in severity of depressive symptoms with respect to RLS (p=0.741). There was no difference in gender in prevalence of RLS (χ<sup>2</sup>=1.842, p=0.175). However, there is significant difference in RLS with respect to age (χ<sup>2</sup>=9.598, p=0.048).Conclusion: RLS is quite common in Pakistan with a prevalence of 23.7%. However, the onset of RLS is unrelated to depression and gender, but the prevalence of RLS increases with age. Future studies should focus on investigating severity of RLS and ways to prevent it. It is relation with age can be studied further to help with the prognosis.