Prevalence of periodic leg movements (PLM) in patients at A sleep center

Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of periodic leg movements (PLM) in patients who underwent polysomnographic examinations and to compare the demographic and polysomnographic characteristics of patients with PLM and without PLM. Method: In this study, demographic features and polysomnographic parameters of 491 patients were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups as PLMI≤ 15 and ˃ 15. Patients with PLMI≤ 15 were defined as patients without PLM and patients with PLMI ˃ 15 were defined as with PLM. All patients were grouped according to their sex and age. Results: A total of 59 patients (12 male and 35 female) had PLMI ˃ 15. The age of the patients with PLM was significantly higher than that of the without PLM group (p = 0.05). When the groups were examined according to gender, in men, total sleep time (TST) in non-PLM group, sleep time and sleep latency after sleep onset in PLM group significantly prolonged (p <0.05). In females, only TST was significantly increased in the group without PLM. Conclusion: PLM is a sleep-related movement disorder that is often unnoticeable by patients but may cause fatal consequences, leading to cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events. Further studies are needed to better understand the clinical significance of this disease, which is diagnosed by polysomnography.