Does quality of sleep differ in familial and sporadic Parkinson’s disease?

Background: Sleep disturbances are commonly seen in Parkinson’s disease and are often under-recognized and under treated in clinical practice. Objectives: To determine the quality of sleep in patients with familial Parkinson’s disease (PD) and to note any difference from those with sporadic Parkinson’s disease. Methods: One hundred and fifty six patients with Parkinson’s disease (familial PD- 20, sporadic PD-136) were clinically examined and quality of sleep was determined using Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Parkinson’s disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) and Epworth Sleep Scale (ESS). Other scales included Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale -part III (UPDRS-III), Hoehn & Yahr Stage, Mini Mental Status Examination, Hamilton anxiety rating scale and Hamilton depression rating scale. Results: Global PSQI score, percentage of patients with global PSQI score >5, total PDSS score, and percentages of patients with total PDSS scores < 82 was similar in both groups. The total ESS score was higher in sporadic PD as compared to familial PD (p=0.04) and the frequency of patients with total ESS score >10 was greater in sporadic PD (p=0.02). The frequency of insomnia, occurrence of nightmares, involuntary limb movements during sleep and sleep behaviour disrupting sleep continuity was similar in both groups. Conclusions: There was no difference in the sleep quality between familial PD and sporadic PD patients.