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© 1994 Oxford University Press

research-article

A General Population Survey of Rest Cramps

J. R. NAYLOR and J. B. YOUNG

Care of the Elderly, St Luke's Hospital, Little Horton Lane Bradford

Two hundred and eighteen subjects, out of 250 individuals taken from a general practice register, returned completed questionnaires giving details about rest cramps, and a further 15 were contacted by telephone. The overall prevalence of rest cramps in the survey population was 37%. The symptom was more prevalent in older subjects. Rest cramps were most commonly experienced in the muscles of the leg, in 83% of the 86 cramp sufferers. Symptoms were usually present at night (73%). On average cramp episodes lasted for 9min (95%CI 6.7–11.2). Most cramps sufferers experienced symptoms infrequently, but 40% had cramp episodes more than three times per week and 6% complained of at least one episode per day or night. Twenty-one per cent of cramp sufferers described their symptoms as very distressing. A minority, 32% of the 86 cramp sufferers, had reported the symptoms to a general practitioner although the 86 subjects self-rated their health more negatively than the individuals without muscle cramps. There was a significant, positive association between rest cramps and symptoms of angina or intermittent claudication although these two factors only accounted for 12% of the variance, suggesting that peripheral vascular disease may play a relevant but limited role in the aetiology of rest cramps.

Revision received February 25, 1994.
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