Reliability and validity of two self-administered questionnaires for screening restless legs syndrome in population-based studies.
| Autores | Popat RA, VanDenEeden S, Tanner CM, Kushida CA, Rama AN, Black JE, Bernstein A, Kasten M, Chade AR, Leimpeter A,Cassidy J, McGuire V, Nelson LM. |
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| Año | 2010 |
| Journal | Popat RA, VanDenEeden S, Tanner CM, Kushida CA, Rama AN, Black JE, Bernstein A, Kasten M, Chade AR, Leimpeter A,Cassidy J, McGuire V, Nelson LM. |
| Volumen | 11(2): 154-160 |
| Abstract | BACKGROUND: A reliable and valid questionnaire for screening restless legs syndrome (RLS) is essential for determining accurate estimates of disease frequency. In a 2002 NIH-sponsored workshop, experts suggested three mandatory questions for identifying RLS in epidemiologic studies. We evaluated the reliability and validity of this RLS-NIH questionnaire in a community-based sample and concurrently developed and evaluated the utility of an expanded screening questionnaire, the RLS-EXP. METHODS: The study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California and the Stanford University Sleep Clinic. We evaluated test-retest reliability in a random sample of subjects with prior physician-assigned RLS (n=87), subjects with conditions frequently misclassified as RLS (n=31), and healthy subjects (n=9). Validity of both instruments was evaluated in a random sample of 32 subjects, and in-person examination by two RLS specialists was used as the gold standard. RESULTS: For the first three RLS-NIH questions, the kappa statistic for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.5 to 1.0, and sensitivity and specificity was 86% and 45%, respectively. For the subset of five questions on RLS-EXP that encompassed cardinal features for diagnosing RLS, kappas were 0.4-0.8, and sensitivity and specificity were 81% and 73%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivity of RLS-NIH is good; however, the specificity of the instrument is poor when examined in a sample that over-represents subjects with conditions that are commonly misclassified as RLS. Specificity can be improved by including separate questions on cardinal features, as used in the RLS-EXP, and by including a few questions that identify RLS mimics, thereby reducing false positives. |
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