OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is sleep terror disorder. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how sleep terror disorder will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A healthy 5 year old boy is brought to the clinic for the evaluation of odd night awakenings. He has wakened screaming every night for the past 3 nights this week. This occurs about one after going to sleep. When his parents enter the room to check up on him, he is short of breath, sweating, and tearful. His face is flushed and he looks quite frightened. The boy does not respond to his parents, and jumps out of bed as if he is being chased by something. The the parents hold him he continues to cry. He eventually goes back to sleep. The next day, the boy does not mention the incident. His parents note that last week he began kindergarten and no longer takes a nap during the day. His mother wonders if the boy is having nightmares due to having anxiety about starting school. The patient has met all of his developmental milestones. Temperature is 98.3°F, blood pressure is 100/60 mm Hg, pulse is 94/min, and respirations are 19/min. Physical exam is unremarkable. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Page Updated: 09.13.2016