title: Restless legs syndrome and sleep problems in children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus type 1.
abstract: The restless legs syndrome (RLS) occurs in adulthood with a prevalence of 5 to 10% and can be associated with diabetes mellitus. The prevalence in childhood, however, is unknown. We asked consecutive children with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus as well as their parents and siblings about RLS according to a standardised questionnaire. Altogether, 46 patients (25 female, 12.0 +/- 3.7 years), 50 siblings (29 female, 12.3 +/- 5.5 years) and 75 parents (41 mothers, 40.4 +/- 5.1 years; 34 fathers, 42.5 +/- 5.3 years; 1.3 % with diabetes mellitus) were included. One patient (2.2%), one sibling (2.0%), and 14 parents (18.7%) were diagnosed as having RLS. Disturbances of sleep initiating, sleep maintenance and daytime tiredness were similar in patients and siblings. There was a significant association of higher HbA1c values (mean 7.7 +/- 2.2%) with sleep initiating problems. The mean dose of international units of insulin/kg body weight/day (0.79 +/- 0.26 IU) was not associated with the presence of RLS or sleep problems. To conclude, there seems to be no association of diabetes mellitus type 1 with RLS in children and adolescents. However, there is a relationship between diabetes and sleep disturbances and an optimally controlled diabetes mellitus might be an important factor for an improved sleep initiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Göttingen, Germany. shappe@gwdg.de
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Happe
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Treptau
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harms
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin