Restless Legs Syndrome and Pregnancy: A Questionnaire Study in the Poitiers District, France

Aims To perform a large and detailed epidemiologic study on restless legs syndrome (RLS) during pregnancy in a European country Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey The questionnaire was distributed by the medical staff in different outpatient waiting rooms (obstetrics and gynecology department of the university hospital, obstetrics and gynecology department of a private clinic, private midwives, private obstetrician-gynecologists, radiological centers before fetal ultrasound examination and general practitioners) in a French town and its surrounding area (200,000 inhabitants) A woman was considered affected if she met the International RLS Study Group criteria for RLS diagnosis Results 1,022 pregnant women living in a French town were included 24% of women were affected by RLS during their pregnancy The disease was strongly related to the third trimester of pregnancy and had a significant impact on sleep leading to severe nocturnal and diurnal consequences with a high consumption of sleep medication Conclusions RLS affects one quarter of pregnant women, essentially during the third trimester and represents an important public health issue with sleep medication intake Copyright (C) 2010 S Karger AG Basel