While isolated periodic limb movement disorder significantly impacts sleep depth and efficiency, co-morbid restless leg syndrome mainly exacerbates perceived sleep quality

Background: Restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movement (PLM) disorder (PLMD) can affect sleep quality and interfere with daytime functioning. Whether the co-morbidity of RLS further worsens daytime symptoms, sleep architecture and quality in patients with PLMs, is not yet fully clarified. Methods: Sleep (polysomnography) and daytime symptoms of 47 drug-free patients, assigned to isolated PLMD or co-morbid RLS subgroups, were compared to controls in a retrospective cohort-study (n = 501). Associations between perceived sleep quality, fatigue, sleepiness, mood and sleep variables were explored descriptively. Results: Although co-morbid patients showed worsened sleep quality, both patient groups showed similar sleepiness and affective symptoms. While significantly differing from controls, patients presented similarly increased light sleep, decreased slow-wave sleep and lowered sleep efficiency. Altered sleep quality, fatigue and sleepiness were significantly correlated to decreased slow-wave sleep and sleep fragmentation. Affective symptoms, fatigue and perceived sleep quality also correlated to PLM index. Conclusions: Sleep structure and efficiency were similarly impacted in isolated PLMD and in co-morbid RLS. RLS mainly worsened perceived sleep quality. Given that systematic treatment for isolated PLMD is currently not recommended, such results may question whether no or different-from-RLS treatment strategies are compatible with optimal care.