Periodic limb movements of sleep in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Twenty-five veterans suffering from combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder were studied for 1-4 nights with all-night polysomnography. All subjects had sleep complaints. Analysis reveals that nineteen (76%) of the patients were found to have clinically significant periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMs) by the second night of study. PLMs are associated with sleep complaints in normals. For this reason the common assumption that sleep complaints in posttraumatic stress disorder are related only to the psychiatric disorder itself are challenged.