Restless leg syndrome in hospitalized psychiatric patients in Lebanon: a pilot study

Abstract

Farid Talih,1 Jean Ajaltouni,1 Firas Kobeissy2 1Department of Psychiatry, 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon Objectives: To characterize and describe the prevalence of restless leg syndrome (RLS) in hospitalized psychiatric patients and to investigate the correlations between patient profile and RLS.Methods: Demographic information, psychiatric diagnoses, psychotropic medication use, and history of substance use were collected from hospitalized psychiatric patients at the American University of Beirut Medical Center; Beirut, Lebanon. A validated questionnaire to evaluate RLS symptomatology was also administered to 126 participants who agreed to participate, as well as questionnaires for insomnia, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Statistical analysis was conducted to detect the prevalence of RLS among the participants and to examine correlations with RLS in a hospitalized psychiatric population.Results: Out of the 126 participants who completed the survey, RLS was detected in 18% of the participants. Of interest, RLS was also found to be associated with higher depressive symptomatology, suicidal ideation, and working night shifts. Keywords: restless leg syndrome, insomnia, depression, and anxiety symptom