Sleep benefit in Parkinson's disease is associated with short sleep times

Sleep benefit in Parkinson's disease is characterized by restoration of mobility upon awakening from sleep and prior to drug intake. With this study, we aimed at assessing clinical and nocturnal sleep correlates of this phenomenon. We recorded motor and non-motor symptoms in 131 Parkinson patients with and without sleep benefit, as assessed by questionnaires. Polysomnography recordings were performed in 60 of these patients. Thirty-nine Parkinson patients (30%) reported sleep benefit. Motor symptoms, measures of sleepiness, fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep-wake disorders, and dopaminergic treatment were not associated with sleep benefit, and most polysomnography measures were similar between both groups. However, Parkinson patients with sleep benefit had shorter total sleep times and longer sleep latencies at nocturnal polysomnography. The link between the occurrence of sleep benefit and shorter nocturnal sleep in Parkinson's disease remains unclear.