Restless legs symptoms increased during COVID-19 pandemic. International ICOSS-survey

Eemil Partinen, Yuichi Inoue, Mariusz Sieminski, Ilona Merikanto, Bjørn Bjorvatn, Courtney J. Bolstad, Frances Chung, Luigi De Gennaro, Colin A. Espie, Brigitte Holzinger, Kentaro Matsui, Sergio Mota-Rolim, Charles Morin, Michael R. Nadorff, Thomas Penzel, Giuseppe Plazzi, Y. K. Wing, Yves Dauvilliers, Markku Partinen

Tutkimustuotos: ArtikkelijulkaisuArtikkeliTieteellinenvertaisarvioitu

Abstrakti

Background and objectives: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been associated with anxiety, depression, insomnia, lifestyle factors and infections. We aimed to study the prevalence of symptoms of RLS during the COVID-19 pandemic versus pre-pandemic. We hypothesized that pre-existing RLS symptoms worsened and pandemic-related factors may have triggered new symptoms of RLS. Methods: Adults (≥18 years) from fifteen countries across four continents participated in an online survey between May and August 2020. The harmonized questionnaire included a validated single question on RLS with response alternatives from 1 to 5 on a scale from never to every/almost every evening or night. Other measures were the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), measures of symptoms of anxiety (GAD-2) and depression (PHQ-2), and questions on different pandemic-related factors. Results: Altogether, 17 846 subjects (63.8 % women) were included in the final analyses. The mean age was 41.4 years (SD 16.1). During the pandemic, symptoms of RLS (≥3 evenings/nights per week) were more common 9.1 % (95 % CI 8.7–10.1) compared to 5.4 % (95 % CI 4.9–6.0) before the pandemic (P < 0.0001). Alltogether 1.3 % (95 % CI 1.1–1.6) respondents had new-onset symptoms (≥3 evenings/nights per week). Moderate-severe insomnia was strongly associated with RLS symptoms. The occurrences of new-onset RLS symptoms were 5.6 % (95 % CI 0.9–13.0) for participants reporting COVID-19 and 1.1 % (95 % CI 0.7–1.5) for non-COVID-19 participants. In the fully adjusted logistic regression model, the occurrence of new-onset RLS symptoms was associated with younger age, social restrictions and insomnia severity. In a similar analysis, RLS symptoms (≥3 evenings/nights per week) were associated with lower education, financial hardship, sleep apnea symptoms, use of hypnotics, insomnia severity, symptoms of depression and possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Discussion: Our findings indicate that RLS symptoms were more common during the pandemic than before. Usually, the prevalence of RLS increases with age. However, during the pandemic, new-onset symptoms of RLS were more common in younger age groups. This may be due to the pandemic-related factors being more pronounced in the younger compared to the older. The association between insomnia, psychiatric symptoms and RLS warrants clinical attention.

Alkuperäiskielienglanti
LehtiSleep Medicine
Vuosikerta119
Sivut389-398
Sivumäärä10
ISSN1389-9457
DOI - pysyväislinkit
TilaJulkaistu - heinäk. 2024
OKM-julkaisutyyppiA1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä, vertaisarvioitu

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Tieteenalat

  • 3121 Yleislääketiede, sisätaudit ja muut kliiniset lääketieteet
  • 3124 Neurologia ja psykiatria

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