Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Nov 10;11(11):e0164769.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164769. eCollection 2016.

Prevalence of Sleepwalking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Helen M Stallman  1 , Mark Kohler  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of Sleepwalking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Helen M Stallman et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Sleepwalking is thought to be a common arousal disorder; however, the epidemiology of this disorder has not yet been systematically examined. A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ScienceDirect was conducted for 'sleepwalking' OR 'somnambulism' in any field, to identify studies that reported the epidemiology of sleepwalking or sleepwalking disorders. Fifty-one studies assessed the prevalence rates of sleepwalking in a total sample of 100 490. The meta-analysis showed the estimated lifetime prevalence of sleepwalking was 6.9% (95% CI 4.6%-10.3%). The current prevalence rate of sleepwalking-within the last 12 months-was significantly higher in children 5.0% (95% CI 3.8%-6.5%) than adults 1.5% (95% CI 1.0%-2.3%). There was no evidence of developmental trends in sleepwalking across childhood. The significant risk of bias across all studies suggests these results should be used cautiously. Further epidemiological research that addresses methodological problems found in studies of sleepwalking to date is needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA flow of information through the different phases of the systematic review.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Forest plot for Current Sleepwalking in Children.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Forest plot for Current Sleepwalking in Adults.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Forest plot for Lifetime Sleepwalking.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Forest Plot for child current sleepwalking prevalence ordered by mean sample age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Broughton RJ. Sleep disorders: Disorders of arousal? Enuresis, somnambulism, and nightmares occur in confusional states of arousal, not in "dreaming sleep". Science. 1968;159(3819):1070–8. 10.1126/science.159.3819.1070 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xie Q. Naked sleepwalker found in Manchester city centre at 4am by police—who returned him to his hotel after posing for a selfie. Daily Mail Australia. 2016;Monday, May 30th 2016.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 3303.0—Causes of Death, Australia, 2013, Table 1. Underlying cause of death, All causes, Australia, 2013, ata cube: Excel spreadsheet, viewed 7 September 2015, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3303.02013?OpenDocument. 2015.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 3303.0—Causes of Death, Australia, 2010, Table 1. Underlying cause of death, All causes, Australia, 2010, ata cube: Excel spreadsheet, viewed 7 September 2015, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3303.02010?OpenDocument. 2012.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 3303.0—Causes of Death, Australia, 2012, Table 1. Underlying cause of death, All causes, Australia, 2012, ata cube: Excel spreadsheet, viewed 7 September 2015, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3303.02012?OpenDocument. 2014.

LinkOut - more resources