TY - JOUR
T1 - Restless legs syndrome in Multiple Sclerosis patients
T2 - a contributing factor for fatigue, impaired functional capacity, and diminished health-related quality of life
AU - Giannaki, Christoforos D.
AU - Aristotelous, Panagiotis
AU - Stefanakis, Manos
AU - Hadjigeorgiou, Georgios M.
AU - Manconi, Mauro
AU - Leonidou, Eleni
AU - Sakkas, Giorgos K.
AU - Pantzaris, Marios
PY - 2018/3/24
Y1 - 2018/3/24
N2 - Objectives: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) symptoms are common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. The aim of the current study was to examine for the first time whether RLS could affect the functional capacity and various contributing parameters related to quality of life and fatigue in MS patients. Methods: According to their RLS status, 50 relapsing-remitting MS patients were divided into the RLS (n = 10) and non-RLS groups (n = 40). Specific questionnaires were used in order to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue levels, sleep quality, daily sleepiness, and depression symptoms of the patients. Functional capacity was examined using a battery of functional tests. Total body and visceral fat levels were assessed via bioelectrical impedance analyzers. Results: Sleep quality, depression, fatigue, and HRQoL levels were found to be significantly worse in the patients with RLS compared to their free-RLS counterparts (P < 0.05). In addition, patients with RLS were found to exhibit further impairments in their performance in various functional tests related mainly with strength levels of lower extremities (P < 0.05). Finally, the patients with RLS were found to have significantly higher both total and trunk fat levels compared to patients without RLS (P < 0.05). A strong correlation was observed between the severity of RLS symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue, and QoL levels. Discussion: It seems that RLS contributes even further to impairments on sleep quality, fatigue, functional capacity, and therefore HRQoL levels in relapsing-remitting MS patients, whilst for the first time a link between high fat levels has been revealed.
AB - Objectives: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) symptoms are common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. The aim of the current study was to examine for the first time whether RLS could affect the functional capacity and various contributing parameters related to quality of life and fatigue in MS patients. Methods: According to their RLS status, 50 relapsing-remitting MS patients were divided into the RLS (n = 10) and non-RLS groups (n = 40). Specific questionnaires were used in order to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue levels, sleep quality, daily sleepiness, and depression symptoms of the patients. Functional capacity was examined using a battery of functional tests. Total body and visceral fat levels were assessed via bioelectrical impedance analyzers. Results: Sleep quality, depression, fatigue, and HRQoL levels were found to be significantly worse in the patients with RLS compared to their free-RLS counterparts (P < 0.05). In addition, patients with RLS were found to exhibit further impairments in their performance in various functional tests related mainly with strength levels of lower extremities (P < 0.05). Finally, the patients with RLS were found to have significantly higher both total and trunk fat levels compared to patients without RLS (P < 0.05). A strong correlation was observed between the severity of RLS symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue, and QoL levels. Discussion: It seems that RLS contributes even further to impairments on sleep quality, fatigue, functional capacity, and therefore HRQoL levels in relapsing-remitting MS patients, whilst for the first time a link between high fat levels has been revealed.
KW - body fat
KW - depression
KW - functional capacity
KW - Sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044465499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01616412.2018.1454719
DO - 10.1080/01616412.2018.1454719
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044465499
SN - 0161-6412
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - Neurological Research
JF - Neurological Research
ER -