ABSTRACT
Ekbom himself estimated a 5% prevalence of RLS in the general population1, whereas later studies have reported prevalences varying between 1.2% and 29% . Thus data on the epidemiology of RLS are variable and this may be due to several possible reasons. In 1995, the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) published a consensus report for the diagnosis of RLS2 (see Chapter 2). There are very few large studies (including more than 100 participants) using these criteria. This may be because the investigators used only a few questions3, or because the surveys were performed before the publication of the 1995 criteria for RLS.
