Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine the level of awareness of restless legs syndrome in individuals admitted to primary health care services.

Patients and Methods: This survey was conducted with 240 participants (99 males, 141 females; mean age: 32.6±13.1 years; range, 18 to 78 years) between July 2020 and July 2021. In the first stage of the survey, the demographic characteristics of the participants (those who admitted to primary health care services to receive health care), such as age, sex, and educational status, were examined. In the second stage, the survey questions were asked to the participants to determine the level of awareness of restless legs syndrome, and in the third stage, the participants answered the questions about the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria to determine whether they had restless legs syndrome.

Results: Of the respondents, 37.1% answered “Yes” to the question, “Have you ever heard of restless legs syndrome?” When the participants were asked the question, “Do you know what this disorder is this rate decreased to 30.8%. The rate of the patients who answered “Yes” to all four questions of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group diagnostic criteria was 28.1%.

Conclusion: Although the number of patients meeting the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group diagnostic criteria is high, a small number of patients have information about the disease. It is of major importance for the public health to have more information on this disorder that affects quality of life and sleep.

Citation: Tuğan Yıldız B, Tuncel Berktaş D, Taş F, Erdoğan A. The level of knowledge about restless legs syndrome in the population that apply to primary health care services. Parkinson Hast Harek Boz Derg 2022;25(2-3):35-39. doi: 10.5606/phhb.dergisi.2022.5.

The study protocol was approved by the Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University Faculty of Medicine Ethics Committee (reference number: 07/20.03.2019). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

A written informed consent was obtained from each patient.

Data Sharing Statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conceptualization: B.T.Y., D.T.B.; Formal analysis: A.E., F.T.; Writing-original draft: B.T.Y., D.T.B., F.T., A.E.; Writing-review & editing: B.T.Y., D.T.B., F.T., A.E.; Supervision: B.T.Y., D.T.B., F.T., A.E.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.