Restless legs syndrome in end-stage renal disease: a multicenter study in Taiwan

Background and purpose Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is an underestimated movement disorder in patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). Several clinical and laboratory factors were inconsistently reported to associate with RLS. We aim to perform a large‐scale multicenter study to investigate the possible associated risk factors of RLS in patients with ESRD in Taiwan, a country with the highest incidence of uremia in the world. Methods From October 2009 to October 2011, we constitutively recruited 1130 patients with ESRD from 17 hemodialysis centers. Demographic, laboratory data, presence and severity of RLS were collected. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated by logistic regression models. Results We found the prevalence of RLS to be 25.3% in patients with ESRD. Having type 2 diabetes [OR = 3.61 (2.27–5.77), P