Daytime sleepiness is associated with falls in Parkinson's disease.

Falls are frequent in Parkinson's disease (PD), and may be influenced by daytime sleepiness. We reviewed the records of 120 men with PD. Mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) values were significantly different between non-fallers and fallers (6.0 vs. 9.7, p < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, ESS remained significantly associated with falls (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.4, p = 0.02), along with cognitive impairment (OR 4.4 95% CI 1.0-18.7, p = 0.04) and postural instability/gait dysfunction (OR 1.6 95% CI 1.0-2.4, p = 0.03) in non-depressed patients. In conclusion, non-depressed PD patients are 20% more likely to fall for every one unit increase in the ESS measure of sleepiness.