Purpose The aim of the study was to identify injurious behavior during sleepwalking events and childhood traumatic experiences. Study design Eight questions from a sleepwalking study (02/2023) in different counties in Hungary were analyzed to find a relationship between traumatic experiences in the life of the participants, such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in childhood, and injurious behaviors during sleepwalking. Methods We estimated an association between the Hungarian counties by GDP per capita and individuals that reported injurious sleepwalking events and childhood trauma by logistic regression. Results A total of 749 participants agreed to answer all questions, of which 357 were over 50 years old and 363 males. The results have shown that sleepwalking events were reported in patients with childhood trauma significantly more frequently in the lower GDP counties in Hungary (OR:5.8, 1.21-27.99, P:0.02) even without family predisposition. Conclusion The results suggest that a childhood traumatic experience could be associated with sleepwalking activities. Thus, family history and traumatic experiences can increase the probability of injurious behavior during sleepwalking in Hungary.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants in the study. Ethics Committee: 01/2024 Semmelweis university.

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