Assessment of Restless Legs Syndrome in Preeclampsia, and its Associationwith Preterm Labor

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensory-motor disorder in which, a person experiences leg
discomfort, and tries to improve it by leg motion. Pregnancy is among the factors that primarily causes or
secondarily exacerbates restless legs syndrome. In this study, we assessed the incidence of this syndrome among
pregnant women, and its association with preterm delivery.
This was a cross-sectional study on 172 pregnant women with preeclampsia in 2015-2018 selected
based on a census method. Restless legs syndrome diagnostic questionnaire and its severity based on
International Restless Leg Syndrome Study Group rating scale (IRLS) were evaluated and compared in patients.
Moreover, demographic information including age, smoking, body mass index (BMI), number of gravities,
number of abortions, age of pregnancy, type of delivery, neonate's weight at the time of delivery, and neonates'
gender were recorded and compared.
Findings: There was no association between restless legs syndrome and mother's age, body mass index,
smoking, number of gravities, number of abortions, and time of delivery (P > 0.050 for all). Duration of
pregnancy was 33.43 ± 3.87 and 32.22 ± 4.26 weeks in patients with and without restless legs syndrome,
respectively. 85.7% of patients with restless legs syndrome had preterm delivery. Severity of restless legs
syndrome was 17.47 ± 6.11 and 12.5 ± 3.98 in patients with preterm and term labor, respectively, but no
significant association (P = 0.063).
Based on findings of the current study, although restless legs syndrome among the women with
preeclampsia was accompanied with preterm labor, and also was more severe among them, no statisticalassociation was found in these regards. Further studies are recommended.