Leonard B Weinstock1, Jill B Brook2, Arthur S Walters3, Ashleigh Goris4, Lawrence B Afrin5, Gerhard J Molderings6. 1. Departments of Medicine, Missouri Baptist Medical Center and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. 2. Biostatistics, Private Practice, Truckee, California. 3. Division of Sleep Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. 4. Infection Prevention and Control and Clinical Quality, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri. 5. Department of Mast Cell Studies, Hematology/Oncology, AIM Center for Personalized Medicine, Purchase, New York. 6. Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep disturbance is common in long-COVID (LC). Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by sleep disturbance and has been reported after viral infections. Therefore, we evaluated RLS symptoms cross-sectionally in individuals with LC at both current and pre-coronavirus disease 2019 (pre-COVID-19) time points. METHODS: Adults on LC-focused Facebook pages were recruited for an online assessment of symptoms before COVID-19 infection and during their present LC state in a cross-sectional manner. The LC group documented baseline symptoms retrospectively. Questions were included about the presence/severity of RLS symptoms and assessments of fatigue, quality of life, and sleep apnea. A control group was recruited and included individuals ≥ 18 years of age who never had overt symptoms of COVID-19. Pregnancy was an exclusion criterion for both groups. RESULTS: There were 136 participants with LC (89.7% females, age 46.9 ± 12.9 years) and 136 controls (65.4% females, age 49.2 ± 15.5). RLS prevalence in females with LC was 5.7% pre-COVID-19 and 14.8% post-COVID-19 (P < .01) vs 6.7% in control females. Severity of RLS was moderate in both groups. Logistic regression predicting post-COVID-19 RLS among females with LC failed to find significant effects of hospitalization, sleep apnea, neuropathic pain severity, or use of antihistamines and antidepressants. CONCLUSIONS: The baseline prevalence of RLS in females with LC was similar to the general population group as well as to patients in epidemiological studies. The prevalence significantly increased in the LC state. Postinfectious immunological mechanisms may be at play in the production for RLS symptoms. CITATION: Weinstock LB, Brook JB, Walters AS, Goris A, Afrin LB, Molderings GJ. Restless legs syndrome is associated with long-COVID in women. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(5):1413-1418.
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep disturbance is common in long-COVID (LC). Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by sleep disturbance and has been reported after viral infections. Therefore, we evaluated RLS symptoms cross-sectionally in individuals with LC at both current and pre-coronavirus disease 2019 (pre-COVID-19) time points. METHODS: Adults on LC-focused Facebook pages were recruited for an online assessment of symptoms before COVID-19 infection and during their present LC state in a cross-sectional manner. The LC group documented baseline symptoms retrospectively. Questions were included about the presence/severity of RLS symptoms and assessments of fatigue, quality of life, and sleep apnea. A control group was recruited and included individuals ≥ 18 years of age who never had overt symptoms of COVID-19. Pregnancy was an exclusion criterion for both groups. RESULTS: There were 136 participants with LC (89.7% females, age 46.9 ± 12.9 years) and 136 controls (65.4% females, age 49.2 ± 15.5). RLS prevalence in females with LC was 5.7% pre-COVID-19 and 14.8% post-COVID-19 (P < .01) vs 6.7% in control females. Severity of RLS was moderate in both groups. Logistic regression predicting post-COVID-19 RLS among females with LC failed to find significant effects of hospitalization, sleep apnea, neuropathic pain severity, or use of antihistamines and antidepressants. CONCLUSIONS: The baseline prevalence of RLS in females with LC was similar to the general population group as well as to patients in epidemiological studies. The prevalence significantly increased in the LC state. Postinfectious immunological mechanisms may be at play in the production for RLS symptoms. CITATION: Weinstock LB, Brook JB, Walters AS, Goris A, Afrin LB, Molderings GJ. Restless legs syndrome is associated with long-COVID in women. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(5):1413-1418.
Authors: Hannah E Davis; Gina S Assaf; Lisa McCorkell; Hannah Wei; Ryan J Low; Yochai Re'em; Signe Redfield; Jared P Austin; Athena Akrami Journal: EClinicalMedicine Date: 2021-07-15
Authors: Daniel Munblit; Polina Bobkova; Ekaterina Spiridonova; Anastasia Shikhaleva; Aysylu Gamirova; Oleg Blyuss; Nikita Nekliudov; Polina Bugaeva; Margarita Andreeva; Audrey DunnGalvin; Pasquale Comberiati; Christian Apfelbacher; Jon Genuneit; Sergey Avdeev; Valentina Kapustina; Alla Guekht; Victor Fomin; Andrey A Svistunov; Peter Timashev; Vladislav S Subbot; Valery V Royuk; Thomas M Drake; Sarah Wulf Hanson; Laura Merson; Gail Carson; Peter Horby; Louise Sigfrid; Janet T Scott; Malcolm G Semple; John O Warner; Theo Vos; Piero Olliaro; Petr Glybochko; Denis Butnaru Journal: Clin Exp Allergy Date: 2021-08-12 Impact factor: 5.018