Studio di popolazione sull'associazione tra sindrome delle gambe senza riposo ed emicrania

Backgrounds: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder characterized by an uncomfortable sensation usually in the legs, which appears or worsens at evening-night and improves with movement. Clinical studies showed a higher prevalence of RLS in migraineurs compared to non-migraineurs but studies conducted on an unselected general population are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between migraine and RLS in an Italian adult population. Moreover, we assessed the relationship between RLS and headache characterized through principal components analysis (PCA). Materials and methods: the presence of migraine and RLS was assessed via questionnaires according to current diagnostic criteria in 1567 participants of a preliminary phase of an ongoing adult population-based study conducted in Val Venosta. Results: migraineurs showed a significant increased risk of suffering from RLS compared to non-migraineurs also after adjustment for confounding factors such as age, sex, depression, anxiety and sleep quality (p = 0.049). This association was not altered by aura status, potential causes of secondary RLS and migraine frequency. RLS was not significantly related with tension type headache (TTH). The analysis of the association between RLS and headache assessed through PCA showed that component 1, characterized by central nervous system (CNS) sensitization symptoms, correlated significantly with RLS (p = 0.021). Conclusions: RLS and migraine were associated in our adult population sample; moreover RLS showed a significant association with headache-related CNS sensitization symptoms. This association could be explained by a possible shared pathogenic pathway.