Relationship between primary restless legs syndrome and migraine with aura

Abstract

In this study, the prevalence and characteristics of definite migraine in primary restless legs syndrome (pRLS) patients and matched control patients (CPs) were investigated. We evaluated 63 consecutive adult pRLS patients and 141 age- and sex-matched controls in this case–control study. The diagnosis of migraine and its subtypes were defined based on The International Classification of Headache Disorders-II. Only those with “definite” migraine were included in the study. The mean age of 63 adult pRLS patients (15 men and 48 women) who participated in the study was 49.4 years. A total of 27 patients (42.9%) had definite migraine. Of these migraineurs, seven (11.1%) were without aura and 20 (31.8%) were with aura. The mean age of the 141 matched CPs was 48.7 years. A total of 32 CPs (22.7%) experienced migraine. Among these 32 migraineurs, 28 (19.9%) were without aura and four (2.8%) were with aura. Migraine and migraine with aura were significantly more common in pRLS patients than in CPs. pRLS patients with migraine were more anxious and experienced a shorter duration of RLS symptoms than pRLS patients without migraine. Migraineurs in the pRLS group tended to have high scores for severity of migraine headache by Visual Analog Scale score and high levels of disability by Migraine Disability Assessment grading than those in the control group. pRLS patients showed a positive association with definite migraine headaches. In contrast to results highlighted in recent studies, we found a strong link between migraine with aura and pRLS.