Self-reported sleep disorder symptoms in epilepsy.

Three groups of adult epileptic subjects with simple partial, complex partial, and generalized seizures and normal control subjects completed a brief self-report sleep questionnaire. The simple partial and complex partial groups indicated significantly more sleep disorder symptoms, especially frequent night awakenings. The generalized group was most similar to the controls. Irrespective of seizure type, the epileptic patients with the most frequent seizures also had the most sleep disturbances. Sleep disorder symptoms did not increase with age in the seizure groups. It would thus seem that epileptic patients with partial seizures and those with more frequent seizures are at risk for developing sleep disorders.