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PURPOSE: Functional neurological disorders (FND) are disabling conditions for which there are few empirically-supported treatments. Disturbed sleep appears to be part of the FND context; however, the clinical importance of sleep disturbance (extent, characteristics and impact) remains largely unknown. We described sleep quality in two samples, and investigated the relationship between sleep and FND-related functional impairment. METHODS: We included a sample recruited online via patient charities (N=205) and a consecutive clinical sample (N=20). Participants completed validated measures of sleep quality and sleep characteristics (e.g. total sleep time, sleep efficiency), mood, and FND-related functional impairment. RESULTS: Poor sleep was common in both samples (89% in the clinical range), which was characterised by low sleep efficiency (M=65.40%) and low total sleep time (M=6.05h). In regression analysis, sleep quality was negatively associated with FND-related functional impairment, accounting for 16% of the variance and remaining significant after the introduction of mood variables. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary analyses suggest that subjective sleep disturbance (low efficiency, short sleep) is common in FND. Sleep quality was negatively associated with the functional impairment attributed to FND, independent of depression. Therefore, sleep disturbance may be a clinically important feature of FND.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.jns.2017.05.021

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Neurol Sci

Publication Date

15/07/2017

Volume

378

Pages

163 - 166

Keywords

Conversion disorder, Dissociative seizures, Functional motor symptoms, Functional movement disorder, Functional neurological disorders, Insomnia, Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, Sleep, Adult, Comorbidity, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dystonia, Female, Humans, Male, Psychophysiologic Disorders, Seizures, Sleep, Sleep Wake Disorders, Surveys and Questionnaires, Tremor