Individuals with Restless Legs Syndrome Tend to have Severe Depressive Symptoms: Findings from a Community-Based Cohort Study.
- Author:
Chul Hyun CHO
1
;
Leen KIM
;
Heon Jeong LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Brief Communication
- Keywords: Restless legs syndrome; Depressive symptom; Insomnia; Daytime sleepiness; Hematological features
- MeSH: Accidental Falls; Cohort Studies*; Depression*; Erythrocyte Count; Odds Ratio; Restless Legs Syndrome*; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
- From:Psychiatry Investigation 2017;14(6):887-893
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- 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.
