Citation

Sılay K, Özkaya H, Yalçın A, Akıncı S, Ulaş A, Öztürk E, Canbaz M, Yalçın B. Ankara Med. J. 2016; 16(1): ee47556.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Yildirim Beyazit University)

DOI

10.17098/amj.47556

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The fall risk increases in the elderly due to comorbidities and age. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) might be a potential risk factor since it is a sensorimotor disorder. It is associated with paresthesias and motor restlessness which may cause sleep problems. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of restless legs syndrome on falls among geriatric patients and identify the other risk factors for falls.

Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional study including patients 65 years and older. The diagnosis of RLS was established with 2012 International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria. Patients were evaluated with comprehensive geriatric assessment. The association between falls and RLS and geriatric conditions was evaluated with binominal logistic regression analysis.

Results: There were total 70 patients in the study. 44.3% of patients were living in the assisted living facility. There were 37 females. The rate of restless legs syndrome was shown 15.7%. The number of falls in the last one year was 24.3%. The rate of comorbidity and polypharmacy was 37.1% and 65.7% respectively. 21.4% patients were dependent on activities of daily living (ADL) and 40% had positive timed up and go (TUG) test. Possible depression and cognitive impairment rate was found 47.1% and 38.6 respectively. The association between falls and RLS and positive TUG test was found statistically significant (p=0.041, OR=6.59 and p=0.046, OR=6.31).

Conclusion: Our study revealed that RLS is a risk factor for falls in elderly. It is essential to address and modify the underlying risk factors including RLS in older patients. This finding would increase the awareness of physicians about RLS as a risk factor for falls. Also the association between falls and positive TUG test has been found statistically significant. Our study suggests that performing TUG test should be an essential part of fall evaluation.

Keywords

Restless Leg Syndrome, Falls, Geriatric Assessment, Comorbidity

Language: en