Lifetime prevalence and incidence of parasomnias in a population of young adult Nigerians

Abstract

Lifetime prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for parasomnias were determined. Past experiences of non-REM, REM, and sleep-transition parasomnias were recorded. Diaries of night sleep duration, parasomnias, perception of aliens, levels of physical activity, headaches and intake of all substances, drugs, and tobacco were kept for 14 consecutive days. A total of 276 subjects were studied. Lifetime prevalences (95% CI) were 725 (668-776) for occurrence of any parasomnia, 43 (25-74) for sleepwalking, 112 (80-155) for sleep terror, 475 (416-533) for nightmares, 225 (179-277) for sleep paralysis, 43 (25-74) for sleep starts, 322 (270-380) for sleep talking, and 344 (291-402) for enuresis. Incidences (95% CI) were 210 (166-262) for occurrence of any parasomnia, 14 (6-37) for sleepwalking, 11 (4-31) for sleep terror, 170 (131-219) for confusional arousal, 18 (8-42) for nightmares, 14 (6-37) for sleep paralysis, 33 (17-61) for sleep starts, and 4 (1-20) for sleep enuresis. Multivariate analysis showed associations of increase occurrence of parasomnias and duration of sleep >7 h (p < 0.05) and intake of alcohol (p < 0.001), but heavy workload before sleep was associated with decreased occurrence of parasomnias (p < 0.01). Gender, smoking, caffeinated drinks, hypnotics, and headaches were not associated with parasomnias. Incidence of presence of aliens (95% CI) in the room was 25(0/infinity) (12-51). This study shows that more than 70% of the population have experienced parasomnias at any time in the past. Nightmares, enuresis, sleep paralysis and night terrors are the commonest parasomnias experienced in the past, while confusional arousal, sleep starts, and nightmares are the commonest parasomnias currently experienced. Incidence estimates show that all parasomnias persist into adulthood at reduced rates, but reduction of occurrence was greatest for enuresis. Long duration of night sleep and intake of alcohol predisposed subjects to higher occurrence of parasomnias.

Sleep disturbances among patients with epilepsy in Nigeria

“…Multiracial studies in USA also observed that parasomnias are more common among African-Americans compared to Caucasians and that traumatic events were associated with an increased frequency of parasomnias in the population [36,37] In this study, the prevalence of parasomnias in PWE was 46% which was consistent with the findings from the previous studies. [4,5] The prevalence of parasomnias in this study is higher than that reported by Busulli et al, [37] who observed that 34% of patients with nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy had NREM parasomnias and that of Manni et al, [38] with a prevalence of 10% for REM sleep behavior disorder in elderly subjects with epilepsy.…”

“…In the previous study carried out by Oluwole [4] among medical student's, increased duration of sleep and alcohol intake were associated with parasomnias, while smoking, intake of caffeinated drink and male gender were not associated with parasomnias. Though there is a paucity of literature on the risk factors that were predictive of the presence of parasomnias in PWE however in this study, none of the sociodemographic or epilepsy-related variables predicted the occurrence of parasomnias in the PWE, the reasons for this finding are unclear but might probably be due to possibility of differences in risk factors that could predispose the general population and PWE to development of parasomnias.…”

“…[31][32][33] The second type of parasonmias occur in REM sleep and includes nightmares, sleep paralysis and REM sleep behavior disorders, which are observed during the final one-third of the night. [34,35] Previous studies carried out by Oluwole, [4] and Ohaeri et al, [5] demonstrated that parasomnias particularly nightmares were common among the general population in Nigeria. Multiracial studies in USA also observed that parasomnias are more common among African-Americans compared to Caucasians and that traumatic events were associated with an increased frequency of parasomnias in the population [36,37] In this study, the prevalence of parasomnias in PWE was 46% which was consistent with the findings from the previous studies.…”

“…[1,2] Sleep disorders are common; snoring has been reported in a third of the general population, while parasomnias occur in a quarter to two-thirds of Nigeria adult population. [3][4][5] The frequency of sleep disorders has been observed to be higher in persons with epilepsy (PWE). In particular, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), insomnias and parasomnias, [6][7][8] were observed to be common and could result in cognitive impairment and poorly controlled seizures.…”

Insomnia, parasomnia, and predisposing factors in Turkish school children

“…A prevalence of 19.2% was calculated in the same group after a follow‐up period of 5 years when the mean age had reached 13.7 . In contrast to insomnia, parasomnia decreases as children get older . Furet et al .…”