Periodic Limb Movements Disorder in patients with specific language impairment: an important cause of sleep disruption

Abstract

Introduction Sleep problems, including Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) in childhood, mainly associated with disorders like Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity (ADHD) have been well documented, but less is known about this specific sleep disorder in children with Specific Language Impairment. Sleep problems have effects in day- time cognitive and adaptive performance, so the presence of this disorder could be influence in the development of these children. Materials and methods 40 children (31 boys and 9 girls) with 3–5 years old, diagnosed of Specific Language Impairment (development quotient Results In our sample, we found PLMD in 87.5% of the children, with an average index of 9.08+/-5.93. 60% of these patients present foot flexion and extension movements and the remaining 40% present exaggerated movements with knee flexion and extension and sometimes with movements in arms. In this group, the index of movements is higher than in the first one, with statistically significant result (Pearson correlation). We found an average index of periodic limb movement with arousal of 5.86+/-3.56, average arousal index of 36.5+/-8.54 and average sleep efficiency of 86.14+/-8.37. There are no statistically significant correlation between periodic limb movement index and sleep efficiency. Only 4 patients present another specific sleep disorder (2 OSAP and 2 parasomnias). Conclusion We found that Periodic Limb Movement Disorder is common in children with diagnosis of Specific Language Impairment. This disorder disrupts sleep (mainly in microstructure) and secondarily may influence the daily behavior and development of these children. Treatment of this specific disorder could improve the day- time impairment and the language problem in these children. We need to extend the sample size and control the effect of the treatment in clinic and evolution of the children to have more consistent results.