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Large body movements on video polysomnography are associated with daytime dysfunction in children with restless sleep

Wei K Liu1,2,3, Thomas J Dye1,2,3, Paul Horn1

  • 1Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Sleep
|January 13, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Restless sleep disorder (RSD) in children is linked to greater daytime sleepiness and reduced quality of life compared to periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) or restless legs syndrome (RLS). Further research is needed on long-term effects.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Movement Disorders

Background:

  • Restless sleep disorder (RSD) is a newly defined sleep-related movement disorder characterized by large muscle movements (LMM) during sleep.
  • Understanding RSD's clinical characteristics and impact on daytime functioning is crucial for diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine sleep study findings, clinical characteristics, and daytime functioning in children with RSD.
  • To compare these aspects between children with RSD, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), and restless legs syndrome (RLS).

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of video polysomnography (PSG) data from 47 children with restless sleep.
  • Age- and sex-matched comparison with 34 children with PLMD and 12 children with RLS.
  • Analysis of PSG characteristics, serum ferritin, Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) scores.

Main Results:

  • Fourteen children met RSD criteria (LMM index ≥ 5/hour).
  • Children with RSD showed higher mean ESS scores (indicating more daytime sleepiness) than PLMD or RLS groups, though not statistically significant.
  • PedsQL scores were significantly lower in the RLS group compared to RSD and reduced across all three groups.

Conclusions:

  • Children with RSD experience increased daytime sleepiness compared to those with PLMD or RLS.
  • All three sleep-related movement disorder groups exhibited decreased quality of life.
  • Further investigation is warranted to understand the long-term consequences of RSD in children.

Keywords:
pediatrics sleepperiodic limb movement disorderrestless legs syndromerestless sleeprestless sleep disordersleep-related movement disorders

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