PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Max Bayard
AU  - Beth Bailey
AU  - Deep Acharya
AU  - Farhana Ambreen
AU  - Sonia Duggal
AU  - Taran Kaur
AU  - Zia Ur Rahman
AU  - Kim Roller
AU  - Fred Tudiver
TI  - Bupropion and Restless Legs Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2011.04.100173
DP  - 2011 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 422--428
VI  - 24
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/4/422.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/4/422.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2011 Jul 01; 24
AB  - Introduction: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder affecting 10% of the population. Most antidepressants exacerbate symptoms; however, correlational studies have noted symptom improvement with bupropion. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether, in a controlled study, bupropion would improve the symptoms of RLS, or at least not exacerbate them.Methods: This was a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Twenty-nine participants with moderate to severe RLS received 150 mg sustained-release bupropion once daily, and 31 control participants received a placebo. Participants were followed for 6 weeks and completed standardized tools, including the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) severity scale.Results: The primary outcome was change from baseline in IRLSSG severity score; lower scores were associated with improved symptoms. At 3 weeks, IRLSSG scores were 10.8 points lower in the bupropion group and 6.0 points lower in the placebo group (P = .016). At 6 weeks, IRLSSG scores were10.4 points lower in the bupropion group and 7.6 points lower in the placebo group (P = .108). Bupropion was more effective than placebo in the treatment of RLS at 3 weeks; however, this difference was not statistically significant at 6 weeks.Conclusions: The data from our study suggest that bupropion does not exacerbate the symptoms of RLS and may be a reasonable choice if an antidepressant is needed in individuals with RLS. Larger studies that include titration of bupropion should be considered to determine if bupropion is appropriate for primary treatment of RLS, particularly considering the lower cost and favorable side effect profile compared with currently recommended first-line dopamine agonists.