title: The course and character of sleepwalking in adulthood: a clinical and polysomnographic study.
abstract: To describe characteristics of adult sleepwalking (potential triggers and correlates with polysomnography), 52 patients were interviewed regarding their sleepwalking episodes and underwent video-polysomnography on two consecutive nights. Sleepwalking history averaged 12 years and frequent episodes (more than once per week) occurred in 62%. Higher frequency was associated with earlier onset of sleepwalking (p < 0.005) and 53.8% reported dangerous sleepwalking behavior. The most common self-reported triggers were sleep deprivation and stressful events, while no specific trigger was reported in 37% of patients. More awakening from slow-wave sleep was associated with a higher frequency of sleepwalking episodes (p < 0.001). A longer history of sleepwalking was associated with more sleepwalking episodes, even without the presence of sleep comorbidities or other known precipitating factors.
authors.affiliation: a Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience First Faculty of Medicine Charles University , Prague.
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bušková
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piško
authors.forename: Lukáš
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pastorek
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Šonka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography; D057566:Self Report; D012890:Sleep; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D013009:Somnambulism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*