Increased frequency of restless legs syndrome in a French-Canadian population with multiple sclerosis.

The authors evaluated the co-occurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) using an RLS questionnaire. They evaluated 200 patients with MS, 100 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 100 controls, all French-Canadians. They found that 37.5% of MS patients, 31% of RA patients, and 16% of controls fulfilled the criteria for RLS. MS can cause RLS, or MS and RLS may have common susceptibility factors.