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Disorders That Disrupt Sleep (Parasomnias) (cont.)

Exams and Tests

These are the most important items for parasomnia evaluation: 

  • Interview the person and his or her bed partner

  • Review of medical records

  • Elicit details about sleep-wake patterns

  • Medical history

  • Psychiatric history

  • Alcohol and drug-use history

  • Family history

  • Past or current history of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse 

  • Psychiatric and neurologic interviews and examinations

Polysomnography (sleep test)

This test is usually conducted in a sleep study center. The patient sleeps at the center, and the following parameters are monitored:

These parameters are monitored as the person passes through the various sleep stages. Characteristic patterns from the electrodes are recorded while the person is awake with eyes closed and during sleep. Continuous audiovisual recording monitors physical activity during sleep.



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Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine

Parasomnias »

Parasomnias are disorders characterized by undesirable motor, verbal, or experiential phenomenon occurring in association with sleep, specific stages of sleep, or sleep-awake transition phases.

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