title: Restless legs symptoms in thyroid disorders.
abstract: Dopaminergic dysfunction is associated with thyroid disorders and restless legs syndrome (RLS). In a 'face-to-face' interview, we evaluated for RLS using the diagnostic criteria of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) in patients diagnosed biochemically with either hyper- or hypothyroidism, and in controls without thyroid disorders. Amongst 146 consecutive patients with biochemically confirmed thyroid disorders, none satisfied all the IRLSSG criteria of RLS, similar to the control population (0.2%, 1/434). However, we found 8.2% (12/146) with RLS-like symptoms (satisfied the first 3 IRLSSG criteria) compared to 0.9% (4/434) in the controls (p < 0.0001). Four (33.3%) of these patients reported complete resolution of these symptoms after treatment for their thyroid condition. In conclusion, while RLS-like symptoms were observed in some patients with thyroid disorders, our study demonstrates no significant difference of RLS prevalence between patients with thyroid disorders and euthyroid controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Division of Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore, Singapore 169608. gnrtek@sgh.com.sg
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eng
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lum
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Teoh
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yih
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khoo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology