Research Assistant Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Dayton, Ohio, United States
Background: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is characterized by an intense unpleasant urge to move one's legs. RLS may occur in association with decreased iron stores. While earlier work has documented that women have lower iron stores than men, few studies have compared the prevalence of RLS in young women compared to young men and girls. This study expands on work earlier by the investigators with a statewide sample. Objective: To compare the prevalence of RLS in a large sample of young women compared to young men and younger girls. Design/Methods: The data for this analysis were collected from the 2984107 patients with encounters between the ages of 5 and 19 years old seen at hospitals across Ohio in the past 10 years. The deidentified charts of 660406 patients 5 to 12 years, 1269155 patients 13 to 16 years, and 1054546 patients 17 to 19 years were analyzed. 67% of study patients were female. SlicerDicer software was employed to analyze study subjects' EPIC electronic health records. Results: The prevalence of RLS for boys and young men was very stable across the two age subgroups, at less than 1% across age groups. On the other hand, the prevalence of RLS in girls and young women varied widely from .75% in girls 5 years to 12 years to 1.06% for young women 12 years to 16 years, to 1.24% among young women ages 17-19 years. The relative risk (RR) for RLS for girls 17-19 years vs girls 5-12 years was clinically important and statistically significant (RR=1.687, p< 0.00001). The relative risk (RR) for RLS for girls 17-19 years vs girls 5-12 years was clinically important and statistically significant (RR=1.6510, p< 0.00001). The relative risk (RR) for RLS for girls 17-19 years vs boys 17-19 years was clinically important and statistically significant (RR=1.5118, p< 0.00001).
Conclusion(s): These findings support earlier observations that menstruating young women have higher rates of RLS compared to girls or young men. Future studies should include measures of iron stores for study subjects.
