Restless Leg Syndrome in Elderly People with High Blood Pressure and Diabetes: Factors Affecting It, A Review Study

Restless Leg Syndrome in Elderly People with High Blood Pressure and Diabetes: Factors Affecting It, A Review Study
moosa Alavi,^1,* Zeinab sadat moosavifard,² Hamid reza Amini,³ hengam Nazari,⁴
1. Bachelor of Nursing student, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas branch, Iran.
2. Department of Nursing, BA.C, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran
3. Bachelor of Nursing student, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas branch, Iran.
4. Bachelor of Nursing student, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas branch, Iran.
Introduction: In recent years, the number of elderly people with high blood pressure and diabetes has increased in most countries. Research has shown that people with high blood pressure and diabetes may suffer from restless legs syndrome, and since these patients suffer from this syndrome more than others, the study aimed to determine the status of restless legs syndrome in elderly people with high blood pressure and diabetes and the factors affecting it by reviewing previous studies.
Methods: This review study was conducted by searching for the keywords restless legs syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes, and the elderly in the databases Jihad Daneshgahi, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar between 2015 and 2025. 71 articles were received, of which 45 were reviewed after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Results: The findings of the reviewed studies indicated that 31 to 73 percent of patients with high blood pressure and diabetes suffered from restless legs syndrome; the findings also showed that one-half of the elderly also suffer from RLS. The most important factors affecting this syndrome include genetic, racial, biochemical, environmental, blood type, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Some of the reviewed studies also stated serum iron and ferritin levels and female gender as effective factors; the findings of some studies indicated that the prevalence of RLS decreases with age and that people suffer from this syndrome. A review of the articles showed that elderly people with high blood pressure and anemia were more likely to suffer from this syndrome than other elderly people.
Conclusion: The results of the studies reviewed showed that many elderly people, especially those with high blood pressure and diabetes, suffer from this syndrome. This syndrome is very effective in their lifestyle, performance, independence, cognition, and survival rate. Many strategies have been documented to improve this syndrome more quickly, the most important of which are aerobic exercise, walking, and stretching exercises within the limits of ability, exercise within the limits of ability (such as cycling), massage therapy, and a proper diet. Most articles indicated a significant effect of exercise on improving restless legs syndrome. It should be noted that the results of some articles indicated a lack of effect of exercise on this syndrome, and the reasons for this discrepancy can be attributed to the nature of the exercises and age.
Keywords: Restless Leg Syndrome, Elderly , High Blood Pressure , Diabetes