Restless Legs Syndrome in Multiple Sclerosis Patients – Patient Experience at Lipik Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation

The study included 60 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) hospitalized at our institution from September 1 to December 31, 2014. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in MS patients and RLS relationship with patient age, sex, degree of disability, form of MS, time elapsed from MS diagnosis and use of antidepressants. The diagnosis of RLS was made according to the criteria set by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group. Of the 60 patients, 24 (40%) met the criteria for the existence of RLS. In the group of patients with RLS, there was a significantly higher proportion of women and those that were taking antidepressants. There were no statistically significant between-group differences according to age, duration of illness, degree of disability and clinical course of MS. In the study, 37.5% of patients that met the criteria for RLS diagnosis had not informed the neurologists about their difficulties. The high prevalence of RLS and the fact that a large proportion of patients did not inform the neurologists about their difficulties related to RLS point to the need of an active approach to diagnosis and treatment.