Individuals with Restless Legs Syndrome Tend to have Severe Depressive Symptoms: Findings from a Community-Based Cohort Study

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor neurological disturbance causing physical and psychological distress. Here, we investigated the severity and effect of depressive symptoms in RLS among a Korean cohort population. Depressive symptoms were more prevalent in the RLS group than in the non-RLS group [>= mild depression: odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, p < 0.001; = moderate depression: OR = 6.15, p < 0.001; and = severe depression: OR = 56.54, p < 0.001], with a predominant proportion of severe depression (97%) in the RLS group. We found that difficulty falling asleep (OR = 8.16, p < 0.001), broken sleep (OR = 11.66, p = 0.001), early morning awakening (OR = 8.5, p < 0.001), and excessive daytime sleepiness (OR = 3.04, p = 0.031) were significantly frequent in individuals with severe depression in the RLS group. Red blood cell count was significantly low in individuals with severe depression in the RLS group (p = 0.041). We found that severe depression was associated with RLS, suggesting the evaluation and management of mood symptoms and sleep-related and hematological features when treating RLS.