Sleep Related Questionnaires

HomeMembersAssemblies and SectionsAssembliesSleep and Respiratory NeurobiologySleep Related Questionnaires ▶ Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (RLSQoL)
Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (RLSQoL)

Date of last update 12/15/2016
Name of questionnaire Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (RLSQoL)
Type of questionnaire-description,age Assesses the impact of restless legs symptoms on daily life, emotional well-being, social life and work life in adults 21 years and over.  Additional validation in adults 18 years and over.2.6
Number of items 18
Number of domains & categories Ten of the items contribute to a single summary score, the overall life impact score.  The remaining eight items concern employment (one question), sexual interest (two questions) and work (five questions).
Description of categories/domains   Assessment of how RLS impacts daily activity, morning and evening activity, concentration, sexual activity, and work over the previous 4 weeks.
Scaling of items 13 are scored on a 5-point scale which can be transformed to a 0-100 score, lower scores indicating worse quality of life.  The remainder items are recorded as either a numerical value or a dichotomous response.
Scoring test-retest reliability Yes (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.79 in the total sample, 0.84 for patients with stable symptoms)1
Scoring Internal consistency Yes (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92)1
Validity Yes,  item-convergent validity; concurrent validity-compared with IRLS total score and the SF-36 mental components summary (MSC).
Language English
Translations in other languages (if yes, then list the languages) Turkish,6 Hindi,7 Korean.8  See website for additional languages: Spanish, French, etc.9
Developer name Richard P Allen, MD  
Developer contact information MAPI Research Trust, 27 rue de la Villette, F - 69003 LYON, PROinformation@mapi-trust.org 

Corresponding author2: Linda.Abetz@mapivalues.com
Availability of questionnaire: needs permission from developer, cost or freely available RLSQoL is available on request from Mapi Values; free for academic research.
Limitations Needs longitudinal validation.
Link to the questionnaire (if available)

https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/instruments/restless-legs-quality-of-life-scale-or-hopkins-rls-quality-of-life-scale#need_this_questionnaire

Other comments

Patient reported questionnaire relating to life experiences over past 4-week period.

RLSQoL distinguished between groups with mild, moderate, and severe symptoms, and was also able to distinguish improved or worsened symptoms over a 2 week period.
References (original publication)
  1. Abetz L, Vallow SM, Kirsch J, Allen RP, Washburn T, Earley CJ. Validation of the Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life questionnaire. Value Health. 2005 Mar-Apr;8(2):157-67.
  2. Abetz L, Arbuckle R, Allen RP, Mavraki E, Kirsch J. The reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life questionnaire (RLSQoL) in a trial population.  Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2005 Dec 5;3:79.
  3. Hening WA, Allen RP, Thanner S, Washburn T, Heckler D, Walters AS, Earley CJ. The Johns Hopkins telephone diagnostic interview for the restless legs syndrome: preliminary investigation for validation in a multi-center patient and control population. Sleep Med. 2003 Mar;4(2):137-41.
  4. Allen RP, Earley CJ. Validation of the Johns Hopkins restless legs severity scale. Sleep Med. 2001 May;2(3):239-24.
  5. Kohnen R, Allen RP, Benes H, Garcia-Borreguero D, Hening WA, Stiasny-Kolster K, Zucconi M.  Assessment of restless legs syndrome – methodological approaches for use in practice and clinical trials.  Mov Disord. 2007;22. Suppl 18:S485-94.
  6. Güler S, Nesrin Turan F. Turkish version of the Johns Hopkins Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (RLS-QoL): validity and reliability study.  Qual Life Res. 2015 Nov;24(11):2789-94. doi: 10.1007/s11136-015-1003-x. Epub 2015 May 22. 
  7. Vishwakarma K1, Lahan V, Gupta R, Goel D, Dhasmana DC, Sharma T, Kalra J.  Translation and validation of restless leg syndrome quality of life questionnaire in Hindi language.  Neurol India. 2012 Sep-Oct;60(5):476-80. doi: 10.4103/0028-3886.103188. 
  8. Cho YW, Lee MY, Yun CH, Shin WC, Hong SB, Kim JH.  The reliability and validity of the Korean version of paradigm of questions for epidemiology studies of restless legs syndrome and the Johns Hopkins telephone diagnostic interview form for the restless legs syndrome.  J Korean Neurol Assoc 2007;25:494–499. 
  9. Additional languages available from: Available from: https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/instruments/restless-legs-quality-of-life-scale-or-hopkins-rls-quality-of-life-scale.  Last accessed 3/31/2021.  Page last updated February 2020.
Updated by Hanna Hong
The last date of update March 2021