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Restless legs syndrome in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease
- Source :
- American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. 28(2)
- Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by the urge to move the legs associated with peculiar unpleasant sensations during periods of rest and inactivity that are relieved by movement. A few studies analyzed RLS in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of RLS in a cohort of AD patients. Methods: Three hundred and thirty-nine subjects with a diagnosis of AD were recruited. Cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric measures were collected at baseline and six-monthly for a 2-years follow-up Results: Fourteen subjects met the RLS criteria. RLS subjects were more frequently male (p:0,006) and younger than AD subject without RLS (p:0,029). MMSE, ADL and IADL were not significantly different. NPI total scores did not differ significantly, however, AD patients with RLS were found to be more apathetic (p:0,001) than AD subjects without RLS. Conclusion: RLS prevalence in our AD cohort was estimated to be about 4%. RLS appeared to be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy. RLS and apathy might share a common pathophysiological basis represented by a dysfunction of the central dopaminergic system
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Dopamine
Apathy
Disease
Neurological disorder
Cohort Studies
Age Distribution
Alzheimer Disease
Restless Legs Syndrome
mental disorders
medicine
Prevalence
Humans
Restless legs syndrome
Sex Distribution
Rest (music)
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
General Neuroscience
medicine.disease
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
Logistic Models
Physical therapy
Female
Geriatrics and Gerontology
medicine.symptom
Psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19382731
- Volume :
- 28
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....243886983688d758450c4e94c9ab430b