title: Prevalence of restless legs syndrome in patients with chronic pain in Maputo, Mozambique.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Because there is only one study to our knowledge on the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in sub-Saharan Africa and RLS is more common in patients with some pain syndromes, we aimed to determine the prevalence of RLS in a population with chronic pain in Maputo, Mozambique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study was conducted in the Pain Unit of the Central Hospital of Maputo, Mozambique. Patients were individually interviewed by a neurologist, and only those fulfilling the criteria were included. After collection of demographic data and pain features, the patients answered the screening questions regarding RLS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 123 patients with pain were interviewed. Five individuals were excluded. RLS was found in eight (6.77%) of 118 patients. The mean age of the eight patients with RLS was 54.6years. Five patients (62.5%) were women and six (75%) were black individuals. Seven (87.5%) patients were diagnosed with neuropathic pain; one of them had AIDS and another one (12.5%) had orthopedic pain. The presence of hypertension and neuropathies was more frequent in the RLS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the secondary causes involved, we believe that it is relevant to report the RLS prevalence detected in our study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and of Behaviour Sciences, Division of Neurology, University of Sao Paulo, Medical School of Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: karenferreira@usp.br.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eckeli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dach
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Schwalbach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwalbach
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Speciali
mesh_terms: D016263:AIDS-Associated Nephropathy / Q000453:epidemiology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009073:Mozambique / Q000453:epidemiology; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Africa; Chronic pain; Epidemiology; Hypertension; Neuropathic pain; Restless legs syndrome