Incremental effects of restless legs syndrome on nocturnal blood pressure in hypertensive patients and normotensive individuals

Background Few studies have evaluated the role of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in the development of nondipping 24 h blood pressure (BP) patterning/sleep-time hypertension, which has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. These were indirect studies that had reported the relation between BP and RLS attacks during polysomnographic investigations in the lab. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between RLS, which was diagnosed clinically, and night-time BP patterns in a relatively large young cohort who had not been treated before. Patients and methods After applying the exclusion criteria, this cross-sectional study included 230 consecutive patients with never-treated hypertension who presented to our institution for initial evaluation of hypertension. RLS was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire based on the International Restless Legs Study Group criteria. The questions on RLS were completed by 214 patients and ambulatory BP monitoring was carried out for all patients. Results In the study group, 133 patients were diagnosed as hypertensive (53.4% nondippings) and 81 patients as normotensives (54.3% nondippings). RLS was present in 61 patients (28.5%) in the total sample. The prevalence of RLS, overall, was significantly higher in nondippings compared with dippings (34.7 vs. 21.2%, respectively; P = 0.028). Logistic regression analysis showed that the RLS is an independent determinant for both hypertension (odds ratio = 0.43, 95% confidence interval = 0.21-0.83; P = 0.013) and the nondipping BP patterns (odds ratio = 1.96, 95% confidence interval = 1.05-3.67; P = 0.035). Conclusion We have shown that clinically diagnosed RLS was associated with the nondipping pattern, which has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. Blood Press Monit 17:231-234 (C) 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Blood Pressure Monitoring 2012, 17:231-234