Objectively confirmed prevalence of sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder in pre-school children

Abstract

Childhood sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder (RMD)-sleep-related repetitive movements involving large muscle groups-can impair sleep quality, cause local injury and disturb household members. Previous parental reports indicate prevalence rates in children under 3 years of age between 5.5 and 67%. We studied the prevalence of RMD with objective home videosomnography. Methods Parents of 707 children having their one-year routine health check (357 male), 740 children having their two-year health check (395 male), and 17 children of unknown age (9 male), were asked if their child showed sleep-related rhythmic movements. If telephone interview confirmed likely RMD, parents completed a standardised clinical questionnaire and three nights of home videosomnography. Results At the one-year health check, 31/707 possible cases of RMD were identified (maximal prevalence: 4.38%; 95% CI [2.81, 5.89]) compared to 11/740 at the two-year check (maximal prevalence: 1.49%, 95% CI [0.61, 2.36]). Of 42 possible cases, 9 had resolved; 14 were uncontactable, or did not wish to participate, and 4 did not complete the study protocol. In four of ten remaining one-year olds and four of five remaining two-year olds parental report was objectively confirmed by videosomnography. Minimal prevalence based on objective observation was therefore 0.28% (95% CI [0.08, 1.30]) at one-year check and 0.41% (95% CI [0.08, 1.24]) at two-year check. Conclusions Prevalence of RMD in a large population of infants and toddlers was lower than previously reported (maximum prevalence 2.87%, minimum prevalence 0.34%). It is important to confirm parental report using objective measures. Highlights • Sleep-related rhythmic movements may have severe clinical consequences. • Prevalence was assessed in a large cohort (N=1464) of infants and toddlers. • Parental report of symptoms could be objectively confirmed in 53.3% of cases. • The prevalence in our sample is much lower (maximal 2.87%) than previously reported.

A Novel Approach to Assess Sleep-Related Rhythmic Movement Disorder in Children Using Automatic 3D Analysis

“…The predominant forms are head-banging, body-rocking, and head-rolling (3). Typically, RMD starts in infancy with a maximum prevalence rate of 2.87% as confirmed by our recent community-based study of 1,447 infants and toddlers (4).…”

Markerless Measurement and Evaluation of General Movements in Infants

“…It is also important to evaluate the infant's movements during sleep and crying, which were excluded from the analysis in this paper. Such segments other than GMs are known to have functional value in the neural development of infants 29,30 . Moreover, recent evidence suggests the importance of head movements in the study of atypical development 31 .…”

Sleep-Related Rhythmic Movement Disorder in Young Children with Down Syndrome: Prevalence and Clinical Features

“…Three nights of home video recording in the child's bedroom enabled characterization of RMs in potential-RMD cases only. As per our previous prevalence study [2], an infrared motion-sensitive camera was used (Wansview NCM624W H.264 720P MegaPixel Indoor Wireless IP Camera).…”

“…Sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) is a rare sleep disorder [1] with a likely prevalence of around 1% in UK pre-school children established by our recent community-based study of 1464 infants and toddlers [2]. The International Classification of Sleep disorders (III) (ICSD III) defines RMD as 'stereotyped, repetitive rhythmic motor behaviour' in the frequency range 0.5-2 Hz [1], taking place during the transition between wakefulness and sleep as well as during periods of sleep [3].…”