ABSTRACT
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by an urge to move the limbs, associated with unpleasant sensations deep inside the legs and sometimes the arms (1). RLS, first named in 1945 by the Swedish neurologist Ekbom (2), has a prevalence of about 5% to 15% in the White population (3,4), but is less common amongst Asians (5). In 1995, the International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG) proposed and published a set of clinical diagnostic criteria for RLS (6). In 2002, the RLS Foundation and the National Institute on Aging, in partnership with the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, held a consensus meeting at the National Institutes of Health to update diagnostic criteria (6). Members of the IRLSSG also participated in this meeting, which discussed and improved upon the diagnostic criteria based on new scientific knowledge and clinical experience with RLS. The consensus was that four essential criteria are all required to make the diagnosis of RLS. Three other clinical features may support the diagnosis in uncertain clinical cases, and three additional features of the disorder deserve consideration when evaluating the patient with a potential diagnosis of RLS. The primary revision from the previously proposed criteria involves the substitution of criterion 3, ‘‘relief with movement,’’ for the previous criterion of ‘‘motor restlessness’’ (7). In addition, criteria for the diagnosis of RLS in the cognitively impaired elderly and in children were developed and criteria for the identification of augmentation proposed (7).
