Clinical impact of restless legs syndrome in patients with migraine: a 12-year, single-center, longitudinal study

Abstract Although many studies have indicated a significant association between migraine and restless legs syndrome (RLS), few long-term longitudinal studies have examined RLS in patients with migraine. We conducted a single-center, 12-year, longitudinal study of migraine patients and assessed whether RLS was present in 2010, 2017, or 2022 to evaluate its associations with clinical factors. Headache-related disability was assessed using the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS). Sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), respectively. Of the 262 patients included at baseline (2010), 101 were available after 7 years (2017), and 74 were available after 12 years (2022). The RLS incidence rates were 13.7%, 20.8%, and 24.3% in 2010, 2017, and 2022, respectively. The RLS severity score did not significantly differ among the three time points. The persistent RLS group, defined as those who were positive for RLS at the last evaluation in addition to the first and/or second evaluations, had significantly higher MIDAS, BDI-II, PSQI and ESS scores than did the never RLS group, defined as those who did not exhibit RLS at any of the three time points. Our 12-year longitudinal study revealed significant impacts of RLS on the burden of patients with migraine.