Abstract Background Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a chronic disorder with substantial impact on quality of life similar to that seen read more in diabetes mellitus or osteoarthritis.Little is known about the psychological characteristics of RLS patients although psychological factors may contribute to unfavourable treatment outcome.Methods In an observational cross-sectional design, we evaluated the psychological features of 166 consecutive RLS patients from three outpatient clinics, by means of the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R) questionnaire.
Additionally, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the International RLS Severity Scale (IRLS) were measured.Both treated and untreated patients were included, all patients sought treatment.Results Untreated patients (n = 69) had elevated but normal scores on the SCL-90-R Global Severity Index (GSI; p = 0.
002) and on the sub-scales read more somatisation (p Conclusion Severely affected RLS patients show psychological impairment in multiple psychological domains which has to be taken into account in the treatment regimen.