A sleep disorder in which undesirable behaviour occurs during sleep is?

KPSC Staff Nurse - 2015

Mental Health Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: KPSC Staff Nurse - 2015

Explanation

Parasomnias are defined as a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, during sleep, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep.
The key feature is an undesirable physical or behavioral event, which directly matches the question's description.
Common examples of parasomnias include sleepwalking (somnambulism), sleep terrors, nightmare disorder, and REM sleep behavior disorder (acting out dreams).
These events occur because of a partial arousal or an overlap between wakefulness and different sleep stages.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Insomnia is a disorder of initiating or maintaining sleep. It involves the inability to get enough quality sleep, not the presence of abnormal behaviors during sleep.
Option B: Narcolepsy is primarily a disorder of excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden 'sleep attacks.' While it can involve dream-like hallucinations, its defining feature is the inability to stay awake, not abnormal behaviors during nighttime sleep.
Option C: Hypersomnia refers to excessive sleepiness. Individuals with hypersomnia sleep for long periods but do not feel refreshed and are excessively tired during the day. It is a disorder of sleep quantity and daytime alertness, not behavior during sleep.

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Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Classification and characteristics of common sleep disorders as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
When assessing a patient with a suspected sleep disorder, it is crucial for the nurse to obtain a detailed history, not just from the patient but also from their bed partner or family, who may have witnessed the abnormal behaviors.
The primary nursing concern for patients with parasomnias like sleepwalking is safety. Interventions should focus on creating a safe environment to prevent injury, such as locking doors and windows, removing obstacles, and placing alarms on doors.
What if? If a patient reports 'acting out dreams' and has injured their partner, the suspicion should be high for REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (a type of parasomnia), which requires a referral to a sleep specialist and may be an early sign of a neurodegenerative disease.

How to Approach the Question

First, break down the question stem to identify the key concept. The crucial phrase here is 'undesirable behaviour occurs during sleep'.
Next, evaluate each option based on this key concept.
Recall or deduce the primary definition of each term. Insomnia, Narcolepsy, and Hypersomnia are primarily about the quantity, quality, or timing of sleep and wakefulness.
Recognize that 'Parasomnia' is the umbrella term for disorders involving abnormal actions or events during sleep.
The phrase 'undesirable behaviour' in the question directly maps to the definition of parasomnias.
Therefore, by matching the core definition of each option to the question's description, you can identify Parasomnia as the correct answer.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Classification and characteristics of common sleep disorders.
Stem keywords: sleep disorder, undesirable behaviour, during sleep
Lead-in keywords: is
Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QRlGRApZ2QxCiB29PFEW1a

Reference Book

E6 Nursing Fundamentals Taylor p. 218-220

E6 Medicine Davidson Principles Practice 24e p. 1125-1127

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 7006-7008

Explanation

Why Other Options Were Wrong

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Question ID

Reference Book

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