Abstract

Background and Aims: Restless leg syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease (WED), is a movement and sleep disorder characterised by an uncontrollable desire to move the legs and is associated with uncomfortable and occasionally painful sensations in the legs. Unfortunately, there are limited data on the prevalence of this condition among medical students in Makkah. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence of RLS among Saudi medical students in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Umm Al-Qura University College of Medicine in Makkah region between December 2022 till December 2023 utilising an online validated English language self-administered questionnaire targeting undergraduates medical student. Results: A total of 366 medical students from Umm Al-Qura University were enrolled in our study, with a nearly equal number of both genders. Respondents were second- to sixth-year students. More than half of the respondents (53%, n ≤ 192) did not show symptoms of RLS. In contrast, up to 47% (n ≤ 174) of respondents experienced variations in the severity of RLS symptoms. Conclusions: The current study found that nearly half of the medical students at Umm Al-Qura University reported symptoms related to or mimicking RLS. Moreover, the study showed personal history, family history, and marital status were significantly associated with RLS. However, GPA and academic year were not significantly associated with RLS. These findings suggest that more studies should be conducted to understand the effect of RLS on academic performance and health outcomes of medical students.

Keywords: Restless leg syndrome · medical students · prevalence · Makkah · Umm Al-Qura University

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Peer review

Peer reviewed by 2 reviewers, who chose to remain anonymous.

Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences · eISSN 1658-8223 · Majmaah University · open access