Restless Legs Syndrome: What Is a Pediatrician to Do?

Abstract

Over the last 15 years there has been increasing recognition that restless legs syndrome (RLS) occurs in children. Adults with the diagnosis often report having had symptoms as children, and case series have described children as young as 18 months of age with features of RLS.1 In 2003, a report from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference outlined the essential diagnostic criteria for RLS in children,2 and these criteria are summarized in detail in Table 1 of the Picchietti et al article in this issue of Pediatrics .3 Picchietti et al developed a survey that was based on the NIH criteria and used to screen >10000 members of a volunteer research panel in the United States and United Kingdom who had children between 8 and 17 years of age for symptoms of RLS. Before agreeing to participate, those surveyed were blind to the topic and content of the survey. Only 14% of those in the research panel expressed an interest in completing the study, but of those who expressed an interest, 91% of the eligible families completed the survey. An expert panel of 4 authors developed an algorithm for scoring and interpreting the questionnaire. On the basis of this questionnaire and algorithm, the researchers found a prevalence of definite RLS of 1.9% … Address correspondence to Nathan J. Blum, MD, Section of Behavioral Pediatrics, Division of Child Development, Rehabilitation, Metabolic Disease, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: blum{at}email.chop.edu