Prevalence and Etiology of Sleep Disorders and Alertness in Multiple Sclerosis with Assessing the Impact on Quality of Life (P07.077)

The prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): a systematic review and meta-analysis-an update

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) is reported to vary in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in studies which are conducted in different populations. The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to update the prevalence of RLS in MS cases.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and gray literature including references from identified studies and conference abstracts which were published up to June 2021. Data on the total number of participants, first author, country, disease duration, number of controls, mean patient age, male and female numbers, mean EDSS, and number of cases and/or controls with RLS were extracted from the included studies.

RESULTS

The literature search revealed 855 articles; after deleting duplicates, 530 remained. For the meta-analysis, 75 studies were included (Fig. 1). In six articles, the authors did not differentiate between CIS and MS cases when reporting RLS cases. In total, 15,411 MS/CIS patients were evaluated and 4309 had RLS. The pooled prevalence of RLS was 28% (95% CI: 24-33%). The pooled prevalence of RLS in men was 22% (95% CI: 17-26%), and the pooled prevalence of RLS in women was 30% (95% CI: 25-35%). The pooled prevalence of RLS in controls was 8% (95% CI: 6-10%).

CONCLUSION

The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis show that the pooled prevalence of RLS is 28% in MS cases and 8%. The pooled prevalence is higher in women than men (30% vs 22%).

Multiple sclerosis and restless legs syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been reported to occur more frequently in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in people without MS.

METHODS

Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating RLS in patients with MS published through April 2012. We calculated the prevalences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of RLS in patients with MS and people without MS as well as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs of the association between MS and RLS based on data from the publications. We then calculated pooled effect estimates for the association between MS and RLS.

RESULTS

We identified 24 studies. RLS prevalence amongst patients with MS ranged from 12.12% to 57.50% and from 2.56% to 18.33% amongst people without MS. Heterogeneity amongst studies was high (RLS prevalence in patients with MS I(2) =94.4%; RLS prevalence amongst people without MS I(2) =82.2%). Hence, we did not pool the prevalence data for meta-analysis. Heterogeneity amongst studies investigating the association between MS and RLS was moderate (I(2) =53.6%). Pooled analysis indicates that MS is associated with a fourfold increased odds for RLS (pooled OR=4.19, 95% CI 3.11-5.66). This association was smaller amongst studies published as full papers (pooled OR=3.94, 95% CI 2.81-5.54) than amongst studies published as abstracts only (pooled OR=6.23, 95% CI 3.25-11.95).

CONCLUSION

This systematic review indicates that RLS prevalence amongst patients with MS ranges from 12.12% to 57.50% in different populations. Pooled analysis further indicates that the odds of RLS amongst patients with MS are fourfold higher compared to people without MS.