{"PubmedArticle":{"MedlineCitation":{"@attributes":{"Status":"Publisher","Owner":"NLM"},"PMID":{"@attributes":{"Version":"1"},"@text":"41980535"},"DateRevised":{"Year":"2026","Month":"04","Day":"14"},"Article":{"@attributes":{"PubModel":"Print-Electronic"},"Journal":{"ISSN":{"@attributes":{"IssnType":"Electronic"},"@text":"1878-5506"},"JournalIssue":{"@attributes":{"CitedMedium":"Internet"},"Volume":"144","PubDate":{"Year":"2026","Month":"Apr","Day":"01"}},"Title":"Sleep medicine","ISOAbbreviation":"Sleep Med"},"ArticleTitle":"Prevalence of restless legs syndrome during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","Pagination":{"StartPage":"108904","MedlinePgn":"108904"},"ELocationID":[{"@attributes":{"EIdType":"doi","ValidYN":"Y"},"@text":"10.1016\/j.sleep.2026.108904"},{"@attributes":{"EIdType":"pii","ValidYN":"Y"},"@text":"S1389-9457(26)00143-7"}],"Abstract":{"AbstractText":[{"@attributes":{"Label":"BACKGROUND","NlmCategory":"BACKGROUND"},"@text":"Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is known as one of the most common movement disorders during pregnancy, which is most aggravated in the third trimester of pregnancy and can affect up to one-third of pregnant women."},{"@attributes":{"Label":"OBJECTIVE","NlmCategory":"OBJECTIVE"},"@text":"This study intends to determine the total prevalence of RLS during pregnancy through a systematic review and meta-analysis."},{"@attributes":{"Label":"METHODS","NlmCategory":"METHODS"},"@text":"The present study was conducted using a systematic review approach based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search for relevant studies was performed in the Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), ScienceDirect, and Medline databases using keywords related to RLS and pregnancy. Following data extraction, the necessary statistical analyses were conducted using the random-effects model and performed with the second version of the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software."},{"@attributes":{"Label":"RESULTS","NlmCategory":"RESULTS"},"@text":"In the final 35 studies, a total of 56,989 individuals were examined. Due to the heterogeneity observed based on the related tests (I<sup>2<\/sup>: 99.1%), a random-effects model was used to synthesize the results. Publication bias was assessed using the Egger's test, which indicated no significant bias in the final results the pooled results, the prevalence of RLS in pregnant women was calculated to be 21.9% (CI: 17.3% - 27.4% P\u00a0\u2264\u00a00.001). the prevalence of RLS in pregnant women in Asia was calculated to be 19.2% (effect size: 19.2%, CI 95% 12.9-27.6, P\u00a0\u2264\u00a00.001). Furthermore, the prevalence of RLS in Europe (effect size: 22.4%, CI 95% 17.2-28.6, P\u00a0\u2264\u00a00.001), America (effect size: 19.9%, CI 95% 12.6-29.9, P\u00a0\u2264\u00a00.001), and Africa (effect size: 58.1%, CI 95% 54.4-61.8, P\u00a0\u2264\u00a00.001)."},{"@attributes":{"Label":"CONCLUSIONS","NlmCategory":"CONCLUSIONS"},"@text":"This study reveals a global prevalence of 21.9% for RLS among pregnant women. The subgroup analysis further highlights significant regional variation in RLS prevalence, with Africa exhibiting the highest rate at 58.1%, followed by Europe at 22.4%, the Americas at 19.9%, and Asia at 19.2%. These findings underscore the impact of geographical, cultural, and possibly environmental factors on the manifestation of RLS in pregnant women. Such variability calls for further research to explore the underlying causes of these differences, particularly in relation to genetic, nutritional, and healthcare access factors."}],"CopyrightInformation":"Copyright \u00a9 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved."},"AuthorList":{"@attributes":{"CompleteYN":"Y"},"Author":[{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Altalbawy","ForeName":"Farag M A","Initials":"FMA","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Chemistry, University College of Duba, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Kareem","ForeName":"Muthena","Initials":"M","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Medical Analysis, Medical Laboratory Technique College, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq; Department of Medical Analysis, Medical Laboratory Technique College, The Islamic University of Al Diwaniyah, Al Diwaniyah, Iraq; Department of Medical Analysis, Medical Laboratory Technique College, The Islamic University of Babylon, Babylon, Iraq."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Sanghvi","ForeName":"Gaurav","Initials":"G","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Marwadi University Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Marwadi University, Rajkot, 360003, Gujarat, India."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"R","ForeName":"Roopashree","Initials":"R","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Sciences, JAIN (Deemed to Be University), Bangalore, Karnataka, India."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Kashyap","ForeName":"Aditya","Initials":"A","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Centre for Research Impact &amp; Outcome, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Rajpura, 140401, Punjab, India."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Indumathi","ForeName":"S M","Initials":"SM","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Biotechnology, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Panigrahi","ForeName":"Rajashree","Initials":"R","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Microbiology, IMS and SUM Hospital, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to Be University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751003, India."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Kubaev","ForeName":"Aziz","Initials":"A","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Samarkand State Medical University, 18 Amir Temur Street, Samarkand, 140100, Uzbekistan."}]},{"@attributes":{"ValidYN":"Y"},"LastName":"Joshi","ForeName":"Kamal Kant","Initials":"KK","AffiliationInfo":[{"Affiliation":"Department of Allied Science, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, India; Adjunct Professor, Graphic Era Deemed to Be University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Electronic address: kkjoshi@gehu.ac.in."}]}]},"Language":["eng"],"PublicationTypeList":{"PublicationType":[{"@attributes":{"UI":"D016428"},"@text":"Journal Article"},{"@attributes":{"UI":"D016454"},"@text":"Review"}]},"ArticleDate":[{"@attributes":{"DateType":"Electronic"},"Year":"2026","Month":"04","Day":"01"}]},"MedlineJournalInfo":{"Country":"Netherlands","MedlineTA":"Sleep Med","NlmUniqueID":"100898759","ISSNLinking":"1389-9457"},"CitationSubset":["IM"],"KeywordList":[{"@attributes":{"Owner":"NOTNLM"},"Keyword":[{"@attributes":{"MajorTopicYN":"N"},"@text":"Movement disorders"},{"@attributes":{"MajorTopicYN":"N"},"@text":"Pregnancy"},{"@attributes":{"MajorTopicYN":"N"},"@text":"Prevalence"},{"@attributes":{"MajorTopicYN":"N"},"@text":"Restless legs syndrome"},{"@attributes":{"MajorTopicYN":"N"},"@text":"Women"}]}],"CoiStatement":"Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."},"PubmedData":{"History":{"PubMedPubDate":[{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"medline"},"Year":"2026","Month":"4","Day":"15","Hour":"0","Minute":"32"},{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"pubmed"},"Year":"2026","Month":"4","Day":"15","Hour":"0","Minute":"32"},{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"received"},"Year":"2025","Month":"11","Day":"24"},{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"revised"},"Year":"2026","Month":"2","Day":"16"},{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"accepted"},"Year":"2026","Month":"3","Day":"18"},{"@attributes":{"PubStatus":"entrez"},"Year":"2026","Month":"4","Day":"14","Hour":"18","Minute":"29"}]},"PublicationStatus":"aheadofprint","ArticleIdList":{"ArticleId":[{"@attributes":{"IdType":"pubmed"},"@text":"41980535"},{"@attributes":{"IdType":"doi"},"@text":"10.1016\/j.sleep.2026.108904"},{"@attributes":{"IdType":"pii"},"@text":"S1389-9457(26)00143-7"}]}}}}