STUDY OBJECTIVES Rhythmic movements during sleep are frequent and often considered as benign in children. Disabling forms are diagnosed as rhythmic movement disorder and may persist in adulthood. Whether rhythmic movements severely impact sleep architecture in patients with rhythmic movement disorder remain unclear. We performed a case-control study to characterize the clinical and polysomnographic patterns of children and adults with a diagnosis of rhythmic movement disorder in comparison to controls, and to assess the associations between the rhythmic movements and the sleep architecture. METHODS All consecutive patients (n=50; 27 children, 35 males) with rhythmic movement disorder from a single sleep clinic (from 2006 to 2019) underwent a comprehensive clinical evaluation and a polysomnographic recording in comparison to 75 controls (42 children, 53 males). RESULTS Eighty-two percent of children and adult patients had a complaint of disturbed nighttime sleep. Comorbid neurodevelopmental, affective or sleep disorders were found in 92% of patients. While rhythmic movement sequences defined by videopolysomnographic criteria were observed in 82.0% of patients (in wakefulness and in all sleep stages), no similar sequences were observed in controls. Patients had altered sleep continuity, with low sleep efficiency, increased wake time after sleep onset, and frequent periodic leg movements and apnea events. The severity of rhythmic movements was associated with disrupted nightime sleep, even after controlling for comorbid motor and respiratory events. CONCLUSIONS Rhythmic movement disorder is a rare, highly comorbid and disabling condition both in children and adults with frequent disturbed nighttime sleep that may contribute to the burden of the disease.

中文翻译：

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有节律性运动障碍的儿童和成人夜间睡眠障碍

研究目标 睡眠期间的节律性运动在儿童中很常见，通常被认为是良性的。残疾形式被诊断为节律性运动障碍，并可能在成年期持续存在。节律性运动是否严重影响节律性运动障碍患者的睡眠结构仍不清楚。我们进行了一项病例对照研究，以描述与对照组相比诊断为节律性运动障碍的儿童和成人的临床和多导睡眠图模式，并评估节律性运动与睡眠结构之间的关联。方法 所有连续患者（n=50；27 名儿童，与 75 名对照（42 名儿童，53 名男性）相比，来自单一睡眠诊所（2006 年至 2019 年）的节律性运动障碍的 35 名男性接受了全面的临床评估和多导睡眠图记录。结果 82% 的儿童和成人患者抱怨夜间睡眠受到干扰。92% 的患者同时存在神经发育、情感或睡眠障碍。虽然在 82.0% 的患者（清醒和所有睡眠阶段）中观察到由视频多导睡眠图标准定义的有节奏的运动序列，但在对照组中没有观察到类似的序列。患者的睡眠连续性发生了改变，睡眠效率低下，入睡后醒来时间增加，以及频繁的周期性腿部运动和呼吸暂停事件。有节奏的运动的严重程度与夜间睡眠中断有关，即使在控制了合并的运动和呼吸事件之后。结论 节律性运动障碍在儿童和成人中是一种罕见的、高度共病和致残的疾病，夜间睡眠频繁受到干扰，可能会加重该疾病的负担。