Self-reported sleepwalking in Australian senior secondary school students.
Few studies have examined self-reported sleepwalking in older adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence rates of sleepwalking in a one-month self-report period in Australian adolescents.



Participants were 532 Australian adolescents in their final two years of secondary school.



The prevalence of sleepwalking in the one-month self-report period was 2.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.47-4.33) in this sample-1% reported sleepwalking at least once a week in the previous month. A significant proportion (17.5%) of the participants was unsure if they had sleepwalked.



The results provide data on the self-reported prevalence rate of sleepwalking in older adolescents. Compared with the population data, this rate falls within the confidence intervals of child and adult prevalence rates of sleepwalking and is consistent with a decline in sleepwalking from childhood and adulthood. Further research is needed to explore how adolescents know they sleepwalk to understand the reliability of self-report measures.
Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: helen.stallman@unisa.edu.au.
H M
HM
Stallman
Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
M
M
Kohler
Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.
A
A
Wilson
The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
S
S
Biggs
Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.
J
J
Dollman
Children's Research Centre, Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.
J
J
Martin
Children's Research Centre, Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.
D
D
Kennedy
Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
K
K
Lushington
D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D013009:Somnambulism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students
Adolescents; Prevalence; Self-report; Sleepwalking; Somnambulism