Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pramipexole in patients with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome (RLS) METHODS: The authors conducted a 12-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of fixed doses of pramipexole (0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 mg/day). Patients (N = 344) were up-titrated to their randomized dose over 3 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoints were patient ratings of symptom severity on the International RLS Study Group Rating Scale (IRLS) and clinician ratings of improvement on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) scale. Secondary efficacy endpoints included visual analogue ratings of sleep and quality of life (QOL) RESULTS: By both primary measures, pramipexole was superior to placebo. For IRLS, the adjusted mean (SE) change from baseline to week 12 was -9.3 (1.0) for placebo, -12.8 (1.0) for 0.25 mg/day, -13.8 (1.0) for 0.50 mg/day, and -14.0 (1.0) for 0.75 mg/day (all p < 0.01). Similarly, pramipexole increased the percentage of patients with a CGI-I rating of "very much improved" or "much improved" at the end of the trial (51.2% for placebo and 74.7%, 67.9%, and 72.9% for pramipexole; all p < 0.05). Pramipexole significantly improved ratings of symptom severity, day and night, and also ratings of sleep satisfaction and QOL. Pramipexole was well tolerated: The most frequent adverse events with higher occurrence in the pramipexole group were nausea (19.0% vs 4.7%) and somnolence (10.1% vs 4.7%)As rated by patients and by clinicians, pramipexole was efficacious and safe in reducing the symptoms of restless legs syndrome.

View details for Web of Science ID 000240749900022

View details for PubMedID 16931507