title: Restless legs syndrome in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by the urge to move the legs associated with peculiar unpleasant sensations during periods of rest and inactivity that are relieved by movement. A few studies analyzed RLS in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of RLS in a cohort of AD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and thirty-nine subjects with a diagnosis of AD were recruited. Cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric measures were collected at baseline and six-monthly for a 2-years follow-up
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen subjects met the RLS criteria. RLS subjects were more frequently male (p:0,006) and younger than AD subject without RLS (p:0,029). MMSE, ADL and IADL were not significantly different. NPI total scores did not differ significantly, however, AD patients with RLS were found to be more apathetic (p:0,001) than AD subjects without RLS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RLS prevalence in our AD cohort was estimated to be about 4%. RLS appeared to be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy. RLS and apathy might share a common pathophysiological basis represented by a dysfunction of the central dopaminergic system.
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy. giuseppina.talarico@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Talarico
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canevelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tosto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vanacore
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Letteri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prastaro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Troili
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Lenzi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bruno
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D057565:Apathy / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine