Objective: To investigate whether sleep disturbances (SD) in Parkinson’s disease are associated with a distinct clinical profile in terms of motor and non-motor features.
Background: Non-motor symptoms are highly prevalent in PD and strongly affect quality of life. SD, including excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD), and insomnia, are frequent and may reflect a broader non-motor phenotype.
Method: Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) were recruited from the PD-day-clinic at the Neurology Department of Sahloul Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia. All underwent demographic and clinical assessment, including MDS-UPDRS III, SCOPA-AUT, NMSS, cognitive screening, and mood evaluation using GDS or BDI-II, as appropriate. SD were assessed using validated tools: RBD-SQ and Epworth sleepiness scale for EDS. Sleep-related symptoms were also explored using the NMSS sleep/fatigue domain, including items related to insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and other nocturnal disturbances.
Results: Among 45 patients, 16 (35.6%) had SD and 29 (64.4%) did not. Among patients with SD, 5 (31.3%) had RBD, 6 (37.5%) had EDS, 2 (12.5%) had insomnia, and 3 (18.8%) had a mixed sleep profile, defined as at least two sleep disturbance features. Patients with SD had a significantly higher non-motor burden, with higher total NMSS scores (97.0 vs 28.0, p=0.002). No significant differences were found for sex, motor phenotype, or dysautonomic symptoms. Trends toward significance were observed for older age at evaluation (66.0 vs 56.0, p=0.075), higher mood/cognition scores (12.0 vs 4.0, p=0.067), and higher BDI-II scores in patients younger than 65 years (28.5 vs 9.0, p=0.053). In subgroup analyses excluding overlapping cases, the isolated EDS group had a higher non-motor burden than the isolated RBD group, with higher total NMSS (137.0 vs 39.5, p=0.009), mood/cognition (38.5 vs 4.0, p=0.013), and attention/memory scores (20.0 vs 0.0, p=0.044), with a borderline higher Hoehn and Yahr stage (3.0 vs 2.0, p=0.050).
Conclusion: Sleep disturbances in PD were associated with a higher non-motor burden, supporting their role as markers of a broader non-motor phenotype. EDS, in particular, was linked to a more severe profile than isolated RBD. Systematic screening for sleep disturbances may therefore help refine clinical characterization and guide treatment decisions.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
R. Guizani, A. Rekik, K. Jemai, A. Mili, H. Slimene, E. Jarrar, A. Hassine, S. Naija, S. Ben Amor. Parkinson’s disease patients with sleep disturbances: Motor and non-motor profiling [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2026; 41 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsons-disease-patients-with-sleep-disturbances-motor-and-non-motor-profiling/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2026 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsons-disease-patients-with-sleep-disturbances-motor-and-non-motor-profiling/