The frequency of restless legs syndrome on epileptic patients

ABSTRACT The Frequency of Restless Legs Syndrome on Epileptic Patients Background: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is described as the retraction in the extremities and the irresistible movement of especially the legs after an unpleasant feeling particularly during the resting time in the evenings or the period of getting to sleep. The prevalence of RLS differs according to the societies and chronic diseases. It was reported in various societies as ranging from 0.6-29% and in chronic diseases as ranging from 2.2-26.6%. In our study, we aimed to find out the frequency of RLS on patients with a chronic disease, epilepsy. Material and Method: Totally, 225 patients with epilepsy 61.8% (n=139) of female and 38.2% (n=86) male, the mean age 33.3±12.3 (17-77) were being followed in the epilepsy polyclinic of Neurology Department were included in the study. RLS diagnosis was based on RLS diagnosis criteria on the patients who were included in the study and the patients were given RLS severity rating scale, Pitsburg sleep quality index (PUKI) and Epworth sleep quality inventories. Blood samples were collected from all patients to rule out other etiologies; serum ferritin levels, thyroid functions, B12 and folic acid levels. The statistical analysis of the study was carried out by means of SPSS 17.0 package program. Findings: The frequency of RLS on 225 patients included in the study was found as 5.8% (n=13). In addition to RLS, it was determined that 50.2% of the patients had some other sleep disorders such as snoring, nightmares, periodic leg movement disorder and bruxism. It was observed that 37.3% of the patients (n=84) were on polytherapy and 62.7% of them (n=141) were on monotheraphy. The serum ferritin levels of 74.6% of the patients (n=168) were below 50 ng/mL and 9.8% of the patients had vitamin B12 levels lower than normal values. It was also found that PUKI value was above 5.5 in the 5.3% of the patients (n=12), Epworth sleepiness scale was ? 8 in the 11.1% of the patients (n=25). When the sleeping characteristics of the patients with epilepsy were examined, it was revealed that female patients got to sleep later and the patients with advanced age slept less. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was found between the period of getting to sleep and the frequency of seizure (p=0.053). It was determined that the patients who had daytime sleepiness had also short periods of getting to sleep. It was revealed that the patients who had long periods of getting to sleep had also bad sleeping quality. Result: We found the frequency of RLS as 5.8% in the patients who had been using anti-epileptic drugs for a long time. There was no statistically significant difference between the patients with RLS in terms of gender and the length of the disease. In addition to RLS, some sleeping disorders such as snoring and parasomnia attacks were observed in the patients. It was seen that the patients who had been taking polytherapy were long sleeper. It was also observed that the patients whose seizures were not taken under control got to sleep later. It was understood that both RLS and the other sleeping disorders could be interralated with polytheraphy and the frequency of seizures. Key Words: Antiepileptic, epilepsy, RLS.