. 2012 Apr 15;8(2):119–124. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.1756

Table 1.

Questions used to diagnose and measure the severity of RLS symptoms

(1) In the past year, while SITTING OR LYING DOWN, have you had any of the following symptoms?

(1a) “An urge to move your legs?” (yes / no / do not know)
(1b) “Unpleasant or uncomfortable feelings in your legs?” (yes / no / do not know)

(2) “Are they worse when you are sitting or lying down than when you are moving around or walking?” (yes / no / do not know)

(3) “Do the symptoms improve if you get up and start walking?” (yes / no / do not know)

(4) “These symptoms are most likely to occur when you are? (resting, sitting or lying down / exercising or just stopped exercising / standing or walking / having a leg cramp or Charley horse / do not know)

(5) “What time of day do they occur?”(daytime only (before 6 PM) / bedtime only / evening or nighttime only / both day and night (after 6 PM)).

(5a) “If both day and night, do they get worse at night?” (yes / no / do not know)

(6) “How troublesome are the symptoms?” (hardly at all / a little / moderately / a lot / extremely).

(7) “How often do you get this symptom? (less than once a month / about once a month / 2-4 days a month / 5-15 days a month / most days (16-23 days a month) / daily (6 days a week or more))

Subjects were instructed to check one best answer. In accordance with IRLSSG criteria, a yes response was required to the first 3 questions. The symptoms had to be present during resting, sitting, or lying down positions (question 4) and had to occur primarily during the evening, nighttime, or bedtime (question 5). If the participant's response was “both day and night” (question 5), then the symptoms had to be worse at night (question 5a). For the current study, RLS was defined as present if in addition to participants meeting the above criteria; the symptoms occurred at least 5 days a month (question 7) and were associated with at least moderate distress (question 6).