Risk factors for possible REM sleep behavior disorder: a CLSA population-based cohort study

Objective: Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a powerful marker of prodromal neurodegenerative synucleinopathy, with 80% of patients ultimately phenoconverting to defined disease. Several environmental risk factors for RBD have been suggested, but associations vary between studies. We assessed sociodemographic, socioeconomic and clinical correlates of RBD in a 30,000-subject national cohort. Methods: Subjects aged 45-85 years in Canada were collected as part of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Possible RBD (pRBD) was screened with the RBD-1Q, a questionnaire with 94% specificity and 87% sensitivity. To improve diagnostic reliability, subjects screening positive for apnea or non-REM parasomnia (young onset pRBD), and subjects self-reporting dementia or Parkinson’s disease were excluded. A series of sociodemographic, life style and mental health variables were analysed cross-sectionally. Potential correlates were assessed via multivariable logistic regression. Result...