The Prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome in Pregnancy and Its Relationship with Vitamin and Mineral Use

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in pregnancy and its relationship with vitamin and mineral use. Materials and Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design. The target population of the study was 612 pregnant women. Data were collected between September and December 2020 using the “pregnant woman information form”, the “RLS diagnostic criteria questionnaire” and the “RLS severity assessment scale”. Results: Around one in eight participating pregnant women were found to have RLS symptoms. We found that more than half of the pregnant women with RLS experience severe symptoms of RLS. Pregnant women’s RLS symptoms were found to as the income level decreased, gestational week increased, coffee consumption increased, weight gained during pregnancy increased, and the number of weekly exercises decreased; RLS symptoms were less common in pregnant women who used magnesium, multivitamin, folic acid and vitamin D (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that RLS is an important health problem in pregnancy and the use of magnesium, multivitamins, folic acid, and Vitamin D reduces the prevalence of RLS.

Keywords

• pregnancy
• restless legs syndrome
• vitamin and mineral use