Scoring of large muscle group movements during sleep: An International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) position statement

There is a gap in the manuals for scoring sleep-related movements because of the absence of rules for scoring large movements. A taskforce of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group elaborated rules that define the detection and quantification of movements involving large muscle groups. Consensus on each of the criteria in this paper was reached by testing the presence of consensus on a first proposal; if no consensus was achieved, the concerns were considered and used to modify the proposal. This process was iterated until consensus was reached. A preliminary analysis of the duration of movements involving large muscle groups was also carried out on data from two previous studies, which, however, used a visual analysis of video-polysomnographic recordings obtained from children or adults. Technical specifications and scoring rules were designed for the detection and quantification of large muscle group movements during sleep with a duration between 3 and 45 s in adults or 3 and 30 s in children, characterized by an increase in electromyographic activity and/or the occurrence of movement artifact in any combination of at least two recommended channels and not meeting the criteria for any other type of movement. Large muscle group movements are often accompanied by sleep stage changes, arousals, awakenings, and heart rate rises. The absence of clear and detailed rules defining them has likely impeded the development of studies that might disclose their clinical relevance; these new rules fill this gap.