Association between Restless Legs Syndrome Symptoms and Self-Reported Hypertension: a Nationwide Questionnaire Study in Korea
10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e130
- Author:
Jun Sang SUNWOO
1
;
Won Joo KIM
;
Min Kyung CHU
;
Kwang Ik YANG
Author Information
1. Department of Neurology, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Restless Legs Syndrome;
Willis-Ekbom Disease;
Hypertension;
Prevalence
- MeSH:
Adult;
Diabetes Mellitus;
Education;
Humans;
Hypertension;
Korea;
Logistic Models;
Odds Ratio;
Overweight;
Prevalence;
Restless Legs Syndrome
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2019;34(16):e130-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The association between restless legs syndrome (RLS) and hypertension remains controversial. We investigated the relationship between RLS and hypertension in a nationwide sample of the Korean adult population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study including 2,740 adults aged 19 years or more. Subjects who met the four essential International RLS Study Group criteria and reported symptoms occurring at least once a week were defined as the RLS group. The presence of hypertension was defined as a self-reported history of physician-diagnosed hypertension. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the independent association between RLS symptoms and self-reported hypertension after adjusting for potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Among the 2,740 subjects, 68 (2.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9%–3.1%) were found to have RLS with a symptom frequency of at least once a week. The prevalence of self-reported hypertension was 30.9% (95% CI, 20.5%–42.0%) in the RLS group, which was significantly higher than that in controls (12.4%; 95% CI, 11.2%–13.6%; P < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the adjusted odds ratio for self-reported hypertension in the RLS group was 2.10 (95% CI, 1.12–3.93) compared to controls. In addition to RLS symptoms, old age, being overweight, low education level, diabetes mellitus, and short sleep duration were significantly associated with self-reported hypertension. CONCLUSION: RLS symptoms occurring at least once a week is independently associated with a higher prevalence of self-reported hypertension in the adult Korean population. Further research will confirm the clinical implication of the present results and the causal relationship between RLS and hypertension.
