SALT LAKE CITY, June 22 ? A restless leg syndrome diagnosis can be ruled out by a single question, a researcher said here, a question that has achieved an international consensus.
If people answer no to the question, no further work is needed, said Raffaele Ferri, M.D., of the Oasi Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging in Troina, Italy, at Sleep 2006, the joint meeting of the Sleep Research Society and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
On the other hand, Dr. Ferri told researchers, a few people answer yes even though they don't actually have restless leg syndrome, and in that case physicians need to delve deeper, using standard techniques to arrive at a diagnosis.
The question, developed by the International RLS Study Group on the basis of standard diagnostic criteria, is:
"When you try to relax in the evening or sleep at night, do you ever have unpleasant, restless feelings in your legs that can be relieved by walking or movement?"
