Prevalence of Sleepwalking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Sleepwalking is thought to be a common arousal disorder; however, the epidemiology of this disorder has not yet been systematically examined. A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ScienceDirect was conducted for ‘sleepwalking’ OR ‘somnambulism’ in any field, to identify studies that reported the epidemiology of sleepwalking or sleepwalking disorders. Fifty-one studies assessed the prevalence rates of sleepwalking in a total sample of 100 490. The meta-analysis showed the estimated lifetime prevalence of sleepwalking was 6.9% (95% CI 4.6%–10.3%). The current prevalence rate of sleepwalking—within the last 12 months—was significantly higher in children 5.0% (95% CI 3.8%–6.5%) than adults 1.5% (95% CI 1.0%–2.3%). There was no evidence of developmental trends in sleepwalking across childhood. The significant risk of bias across all studies suggests these results should be used cautiously. Further epidemiological research that addresses methodological problems found in studies of sleepwalking to date is needed.

A Case of Re-Emergent Sleepwalking in Adulthood, Primed by Sleep Deprivation and Triggered by Sleep Apnea

“…Recent meta-analysis suggested relatively few people start sleepwalking in adulthood from the finding that the lifetime prevalence of SW does not significantly vary between childhood and adulthood. 4 The mechanism is not clear why preschool children have more common NREM parasomnia than adults. There is a theoretical assumption that synaptic pruning during childhood to remove redundant excessive synapses including GA-BAergic descending inhibition might contribute to activation 7 Obstructive sleep apnea is known as a risk factor of NREM parasomnia in both children and adults.…”

“…2 The prevalence of adult SW is 2-4%. 3,4 NREM parasomnia in adult could occur with triggers including combined sleep disorders, alcohol abuse or medication. 3,4 We report a 25-year-old male patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and a history of spontaneous remission of SW in childhood, who developed recurrent SW and dangerous complex motor behaviors during sleep after severe sleep deprivation.…”

Adult NREM Parasomnias: An Update

“…Type of Article N Method of Data Collection [7] Longitudinal study N = 9142 Parent-reported behavior [8] Population based cross-sectional study N = 1000 Telephone interview [9] Systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines 51 studies included, N = 100490 Varied [11] Longitudinal study N = 1353 Parent-reported behavior [10] Cross-sectional study N = 700 Self-report questionnaire [12] Review of online surveys Overall N not reported Varied [13] Cross-sectional study N = 19961 Telephone interview…”

Development and validation of the Sleep Disturbances Scale for School-age Children

“…1 The prevalence of sleep disturbances in children fall within a wide range, between 6 to 43%, depending on the parameters used to determine sleep disorders in some studies. [2][3][4][5] However, complaints can be higher according to the National Sleep Foundation Poll, since 69% of parents reported that their children showed some sleep problems in the course of the week previous to the interview. 6 Common sleep disturbances in children include the difficulty to initiate and maintain sleep, present between the 10 and 40%, 7,8 daytime sleepiness, which has been reported to occur between 10 and 65%.…”