Description:
<jats:sec><jats:title>Background and purpose</jats:title><jats:p>A higher prevalence of restless legs syndrome (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content>) in migraineurs has been reported in clinical samples and in two large‐scale clinical trials performed on healthcare workers but general population‐based studies on this topic are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the association between migraine and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content> in an Italian rural adult population‐based setting.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>The presence of migraine and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content> was assessed via a computer‐assisted personal interview and self‐administered questionnaires according to current diagnostic criteria in 1567 participants of a preliminary phase of an adult population‐based study performed in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>outh <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">T</jats:styled-content>yrol, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">I</jats:styled-content>taly.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Migraineurs had an increased risk of having <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content> also after adjustment for confounding factors such as age, sex, major depression, anxiety and sleep quality (odds ratio 1.79; confidence interval 1.00–3.19; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.049). This association was not modified by aura status and possible causes of secondary <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content>. <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RLS</jats:styled-content> was not significantly associated with tension‐type headache.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">R</jats:styled-content>estless legs syndrome and migraine were associated in our rural adult population. This association could be explained by a possible shared pathogenic pathway which would implicate new management strategies of these two disorders.</jats:p></jats:sec>