Sleep attacks, daytime sleepiness, and dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease.

To study the putative association of dopamine agonists with sleep attacks in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their relation to daytime sleepiness, we performed a survey of 2,952 PD patients in two German counties. In 177 patients, sudden, unexpected, and irresistible sleep episodes while engaged in some activity were identified in a structured telephone interview. Ninety-one of these patients denied the occurrence of appropriate warning signs.