Service de Physiologie Clinique et de l'Exercice, EFCR, CHU Nord, Niveau 6, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2010 Feb;65(2):167-73. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glp161. Epub 2009 Nov 13.
The occurrence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in elderly individuals is well known but the incidence and the clinical correlates in these subjects are still unclear. The present study explores the prevalence of and assesses symptoms associated with RLS in an older French population.
The study sample for this study comprised 318 subjects (219 women and 99 men), aged 68.6 +/- 0.8 years. All subjects underwent clinical assessment, nocturnal polygraphy, and cognitive and mood disorders evaluation. RLS was assessed with the standard validated criteria and severity was evaluated by the use of International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLS) questionnaire.
RLS was present in 24.2% of the sample, prevalence being greater in women (29.7%) than in men (12.1%). The mean IRLS score was 16.6 +/- 4.8, 67% of cases having mild to moderate range. Participants with RLS reported greater hypnotic (p < .001) and antidepressant medication intake (p < .001) and had higher anxiety (p < .001) and depression (p < .001) scores. Participants with RLS had lower cognitive performances at Stroop and Verbal fluency tests than participants without RLS (p < .05 and p = .002, respectively). These associations remained significant after multivariate adjustment for medication, depression, and subjective sleep.
Presence of undiagnosed RLS is higher in healthy elderly participants without previously diagnosed sleep disorders, affecting women more often than men. The presence of RLS increased the risk of anxiety and mood disorders and predispose to preclinical cognitive decline independently of anxiety, mood disorders, duration and quality of sleep, and medication.
老年人不安腿综合征（RLS）的发生是众所周知的，但这些患者的发病率和临床相关性仍不清楚。本研究探讨了法国老年人群中 RLS 的患病率，并评估了与 RLS 相关的症状。
本研究的研究样本包括 318 名年龄在 68.6±0.8 岁的受试者（219 名女性和 99 名男性）。所有受试者均接受了临床评估、夜间多导睡眠图和认知及情绪障碍评估。使用标准的验证标准评估 RLS，并用国际不安腿综合征研究组（IRLS）问卷评估严重程度。
RLS 存在于样本中的 24.2%，女性（29.7%）患病率高于男性（12.1%）。IRLS 评分平均为 16.6±4.8，67%的病例为轻度至中度。有 RLS 的参与者报告使用更多的催眠药物（p<0.001）和抗抑郁药物（p<0.001），并且焦虑（p<0.001）和抑郁（p<0.001）评分更高。与没有 RLS 的参与者相比，有 RLS 的参与者在 Stroop 和词语流畅性测试中的认知表现更差（分别为 p<0.05 和 p=0.002）。在调整药物、抑郁和主观睡眠后，这些关联仍然具有统计学意义。
在没有先前诊断的睡眠障碍的健康老年参与者中，未确诊的 RLS 患病率较高，且女性多于男性。RLS 的存在增加了焦虑和情绪障碍的风险，并独立于焦虑、情绪障碍、睡眠持续时间和质量以及药物，导致临床前认知能力下降。
