title: Lifestyle Factors and Risk of Restless Legs Syndrome: Prospective Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between modifiable lifestyle factors, and the risk of developing restless legs syndrome (RLS).
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a Prospective Cohort study of population including 12,812 men participating in Health Professionals Follow-up Study and 42,728 women participating in the Nurses' Health study II. The participants were free of RLS at baseline (2002 for the HPFS and 2005 for the NHS II) and free of diabetes and arthritis through follow-up. RLS was assessed via a set of questions recommended by International Restless Legs Syndrome Study group. The Information was collected on height, weight, level of physical activity, dietary intake, and smoking status via questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 4-6 years of follow-up, we identified 1,538 incident RLS cases. Participants with normal weight, and who were physically active, non-smoker, and had some alcohol consumption had a lower risk of developing RLS. When we combined the effects of these four factors together, we observed a dose response relationship between the increased number of healthy lifestyle factors and a low risk of RLS: after adjusting for potential confounders the pooled odds ratio was 0.67 (95% CI: 0.47-0.97) for 4 vs.0 healthy factors (p trend < 0.001). In contrast, we did not observe significant associations between caffeine consumption or diet quality as assessed by the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, and altered RLS risk in men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Several modifiable lifestyle factors may play an important role in RLS risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine (SB), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Batool-Anwar
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Boston, MA.|Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Vito
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine UCSD La Jolla, La Jolla, CA.
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry/Sleep Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Winkelman
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Boston, MA.|Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA.|Department of Nutritional Science, the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002110:Caffeine / Q000009:adverse effects; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D002110:Caffeine
keywords: behavioral modifications; epidemiology; lifestyle factors; restless legs syndrome; risk factors