Restless leg syndrome: Does geographic area have any effect on prevalence?

Tekdos Demircioğlu et al. found that the prevalence of RLS among patients undergoing HD was high (41%).[1] In addition, a review article noted the prevalence of “uremic RLS” was approximately 30% in endstage renal disease (ESRD) patients.[2] However, its prevalence in this group ranged between 6.6% and 80% in various reports.[3–5] Based on the International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG) criteria, an RLS prevalence of 33% has been reported in ESRD patients, which is greater than the normal population (3%–15%);[6,7] however, a study in Singapore showed lower prevalence in normal Asian population (0.1%–0.6%). [8] Another study showed a significant difference in prevalence of RLS in Caucasians vs African–Americans (68% vs 48%).[9] We have observed a prevalence rate of 31.7% in Iran.[10] Thus, it seems this variation in prevalence may be due to geographic and racial differences, as well as diversity in lifestyle and in criteria, and physicians’ experience diagnosing RLS.