SLEEP - Functional Impairment in Adult Sleepwalkers: A Case-Control Study

VOLUME 36, ISSUE 03

FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT IN ADULT SLEEPWALKERS: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY
Functional Impairment in Adult Sleepwalkers: A Case-Control Study

http://dx.doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2446

Regis Lopez, MD¹; Isabelle Jaussent, MSc²; Sabine Scholz, MSc¹; Sophie Bayard, PhD¹^,²; Jacques Montplaisir, MD, PhD³; Yves Dauvilliers, MD, PhD¹^,²

¹Sleep Unit, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, National Reference Network for Narcolepsy, CHU Montpellier, France; ²Inserm, U1061, Montpellier, France; U Montpellier 1, Montpellier, F-34000 France; ³Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Table of Contents

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Study Objectives:

To investigate the restorative quality of sleep and daytime functioning in sleepwalking adult patients in comparison with controls.

Design:

Prospective case-control study.

Setting:

Data were collected at the Sleep Disorders Center, Hôpital-Gui-de Chauliac, Montpellier, France between June 2007 and January 2011.

Participants:

There were 140 adult sleepwalkers (100 (median age 30 y, 55% male) in whom primary SW was diagnosed) who underwent 1 night of video polysomnography. All patients participated in a standardized clinical interview and completed a battery of questionnaires to assess clinical characteristics of parasomnia, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, insomnia, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and health-related quality of life. Results were compared with those of 100 sex- and age-matched normal controls.

Interventions:

N/A.

Measurements and Results:

Of the sleepwalkers, 22.3% presented with daily episodes and 43.5% presented with weekly episodes. Median age at sleepwalking onset was 9 y. Familial history of sleepwalking was reported in 56.6% of sleepwalkers and violent sleep related behaviors in 57.9%, including injuries requiring medical care for at least one episode in 17%. Significant associations were found between sleepwalking and daytime sleepiness, fatigue, insomnia, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and altered quality of life. Early-onset sleepwalkers had higher frequency of violent behaviors and injuries. Sleepwalkers with violent behaviors had higher frequency of sleep terrors and triggering factors, with greater alteration in health-related quality of life.

Conclusion:

Adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition that may induce violent behaviors, self-injury or injury to bed partners, sleep disruption, excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and psychological distress, all of which affect health-related quality of life.

Citation:

Lopez R; Jaussent I; Scholz S; Bayard S; Montplaisir J; Dauvilliers Y. Functional impairment in adult sleepwalkers: a case-control study. SLEEP 2013;36(3):345-351.