Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39739275›Full record

SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2025

Sleep disorders in functional neurological disorder - a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Siddarth Kannan, Anirban Dutta, Abhijit Das

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. At-home limbic-targeted transcranial electrical stimulation during sleep: a feasibility study in healthy adults.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Smart assistive technologies for neurodisorders: A review on AI, IoT, and wearable systems for enhanced patient care.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Siddarth KannanUniversity of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Anirban DuttaCentre for Systems Modelling and Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Abhijit DasUniversity of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. abhijit.das@lthtr.nhs.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8800-8047

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionFunctional neurological disorders (FND) are conditions marked by disruptions in brain network function without structural abnormalities. Sleep disturbances, though under-researched, are commonly observed in FND patients and may worsen symptoms and overall health.

methodsThis systematic review had been registered prospectively in PROSPERO with the registration number: CRD42023446306. Search of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases identified 218 articles. After removing duplicates and applying exclusion criteria, 9 studies were included in the final analysis.

resultsThe analysis showed a significant prevalence of sleep disorders among FND patients, with 58% reporting sleep disturbances, similar to other neuropsychiatric conditions. Studies on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) indicated poorer subjective sleep quality and higher insomnia rates compared to epilepsy controls. Limited data on specific measures such as wake after sleep onset (WASO) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) scores prevented definitive conclusions. DISCUSSION: This review is the first systematic examination of sleep disorders in FND. The findings reveal a high prevalence of sleep disturbances, especially among PNES patients, correlating with lower quality of life and increased symptom severity. However, the heterogeneity of studies and limited reporting of specific sleep metrics weaken these conclusions. Further research is needed to investigate the direct impact of sleep quality on FND pathogenesis and management.

conclusionSleep disturbances are prevalent in FND patients and can significantly affect their quality of life. Increased awareness and routine evaluation of sleep in FND patients are recommended. Future studies should explore the relationship between sleep deprivation and FND to develop targeted therapeutic interventions.

Indexed as

Nervous System DiseasesSleep Wake DisordersHumansESSFunctional neurological disorderNon-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD)SleepSleep disorderWASO

Identifiers

PMID39739275
PMCPMC11920331

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.