The relationship between actigraphically defined sleep disturbance and REM sleep behaviour disorder in Parkinson's Disease

AimIn this study, we sought to evaluate the utility of actigraphy for examining symptoms of rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RSBD).MethodsTwenty-two patients with idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (mean age = 63.4 years, SD = 7.5) underwent neurological assessment and completed sleep diaries, self-report sleep questionnaires and 2-weeks of actigraphy. They also completed the rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder questionnaire and were classified as screening negative (RSBD−, n = 9) or positive (RSBD+, n = 13) for RSBD according to published criteria. Key outcome data were the number of wake bouts and duration of arousals during the sleep interval as determined by actigraphy.ResultsPatients classified as RSBD+ demonstrated a higher number of wake bouts than those who were RSBD− (p = 0.011).ConclusionsThese results suggest that actigraphy may be a viable tool to assist in the early identification of RSBD. In turn, this could guide early intervention approaches.