BACKGROUND: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological movement disorder. It is characterised by a compelling urge to move the legs and is accompanied by painful paresthesia. Although medication is the treatment of choice, side effects, such as augmentation phenomena in particular, have been reported frequently. So far, little research has been conducted on exercise training as a low-risk alternative. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to investigate the effects of exercise training on the severity of symptoms in patients with RLS. METHOD: A systematic literature research was performed using the databases PubMed, PEDro, the Cochrane Library and Embase. Included were controlled trials that examined aerobic or resistance exercise for improving severity of symptoms in patients with RLS. The methodical quality of the retrieved studies was rated using the PEDro scale. The found data were assessed regarding the effects on the severity of RLS symptoms by means of a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Five studies with a total of 124 subjects were included in this review. Based on the meta-analysis, exercise training decreased the severity of symptoms significantly in patients with RLS compared to the control group (average improvement: 8.53 points; 95% prediction interval: 10.42 to 6.63 points). No significant publication bias was found. The methodical quality of the included studies was low (median PEDro score: 5). CONCLUSIONS: This review suggests that exercise training can decrease the severity of symptoms in patients with RLS. However, due to the lack of high quality studies, generalizability is limited. Further randomised controlled trials investigating exercise training as therapy in patients with RLS are necessary.

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