Restless legs syndrome and headache cause sleepiness and consequent poor school performance: a community based study from Turkey.

Background: Disturbance of sleep habits leads to excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), which may affect learning abilities and consequently academic performance. Therefore the main purpose of current paper was to determine the prevalence of headache and Restless legs syndrome (RLS) in school-aged adolescents and to evaluate the type of headache in adolescents, with a secondary aim to determine the effect of daytime sleepiness on academic success.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years of age, who were in high school education in the 2016-2017 academic years in Kahramanmaraş province. A comprehensive interview form including questions on demographic data, RLS diagnostic criteria, headache and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was applied to a total of 4151 students.

Results: RLS was found in 3.2% of the participants in all age groups. The mean ESS scores in adolescents with RLS were significantly higher than in those without RLS. Headache was reported by 46.9% of the adolescents in the study, with a frequency of TTH type headache of 17.7% and migraine frequency of 5.2%. RLS frequency was determined to be significantly higher in adolescents with headache and migraine. The academic success rate was significantly lower in those with higher ESS scores.

Conclusions: Migraine and RLS often coexist as comorbid conditions. EDS is an important factor affecting academic success in children. Headache and RLS should not be forgotten, among other reasons for increased daytime sleepiness and its etiology.