Prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in children with thalassemia major in Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan, Iran

Introduction: Thalassemia major is one of the most debilitating chronic and inherited diseases caused by impaired hemoglobin production. To improve the quality of life in the long-term treatment of thalassemia patients, it is necessary to pay special attention to sleep-related disorders such as restless legs syndrome. We conduct this study with the aim of determining the frequency of restless legs syndrome in children and adolescents with thalassemia major. Methods: This study was performed on 302 patients with thalassemia major with an age range of 5-20 years in Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan in 2018 after obtaining patient consent and recording all patient information including age, sex, underlying disease, history of drug use, Insomnia, splenectomy, oral and injectable iron depletion, and serum ferritin levels, restless legs syndrome were recorded in patients. Then the data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software. Chi-square and T-test were used to compare the data. Results: The results of our study showed that the prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome in children and adolescents with thalassemia major was 17.2% and had a direct and significant relationship with vitamin D (p-value=0.008) and calcium (p-value 0.05) Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of RLS in patients with thalassemia major, especially in patients with a history of vitamin D and calcium, screening for RLS is necessary. In this way, medical measures are taken in patients and improve the quality of life of patients.