The prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): a systematic review and meta-analysis—an update

• Published in: Neurological sciences 2023, Vol.44 (1), p.67-82
• Main Authors: Zali, Alireza, Motavaf, Mahsa, Safari, Saeid, Ebrahimi, Narges, Ghajarzadeh, Mahsa, Khoshnood, Reza Jalili, Mirmosayyeb, Omid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Female; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta-analysis; Motivation; Multiple sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis - complications; Multiple Sclerosis - epidemiology; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Prevalence; Psychiatry; Restless legs syndrome; Restless Legs Syndrome - epidemiology; Review Article; Systematic review
• ISSN: 1590-1874; 1590-3478
• DOI: 10.1007/s10072-022-06364-6

Introduction The prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) is reported to vary in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in studies which are conducted in different populations. The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to update the prevalence of RLS in MS cases. Methods We searched PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and gray literature including references from identified studies and conference abstracts which were published up to June 2021. Data on the total number of participants, first author, country, disease duration, number of controls, mean patient age, male and female numbers, mean EDSS, and number of cases and/or controls with RLS were extracted from the included studies. Results The literature search revealed 855 articles; after deleting duplicates, 530 remained. For the meta-analysis, 75 studies were included (Fig.  1 ). In six articles, the authors did not differentiate between CIS and MS cases when reporting RLS cases. In total, 15,411 MS/CIS patients were evaluated and 4309 had RLS. The pooled prevalence of RLS was 28% (95% CI: 24–33%). The pooled prevalence of RLS in men was 22% (95% CI: 17–26%), and the pooled prevalence of RLS in women was 30% (95% CI: 25–35%). The pooled prevalence of RLS in controls was 8% (95% CI: 6–10%). Conclusion The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis show that the pooled prevalence of RLS is 28% in MS cases and 8%. The pooled prevalence is higher in women than men (30% vs 22%).