Restless Legs Syndrome: Psychiatric Comorbidities Are More Important Than Neuroticism

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is often associated with psychopathological symptoms. We compared psychiatric diagnoses, psychological complaints, sleep and personality traits in RLS patients and a control group The RLS patients also answered the IRLS, RLS-6, and QoL-RLS. The RLS patients showed more depressive disorders, psychopathological symptoms, and lower well-being than controls, but no differences in personality traits. The slightly, but not significantly, higher neuroticism found in RLS patients can be explained by the higher rates of depression among the patients. It is advisable to screen RLS patients for psychiatric comorbidities. The design using a matched control group without sleep disorders limits the conclusions that can be drawn regarding the frequency of psychiatric diagnoses and controls with sleep problems.