ABSTRACT
B3 Sleep Disorders Associated withMental Retardation Michael J. Rack Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
Mental retardation is defined by theAmerican PsychiatricAssociation as significantly sub-average intellectual functioning beginning before the age of 18 years; deficits or impairments in adaptive functioning must be present (1). A wide variety of sleep abnormalities have been reported in the mentally retarded. Some of these sleep disturbances are common to many of the mental retardation syndromes. Other sleep disturbances are associated with specific syndromes. For example, Prader-Willi Syndrome is associatedwith excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and rapid eyemovement (REM) sleep abnormalities, both ofwhich are thought to be due to hypothalamic dysfunction.Mentally retarded childrenwith sleep difficulties aremore likely to show behavioral disturbance compared with those who sleep well (2).
