parasomnia, sleepwalking type
A disorder in which a series of complex behaviors are initiated during slow-wave (non-REM) sleep and result in walking during sleep. It is a parasomnia, defined as a clinical disorder resulting in undesirable physical phenomena that occur predominantly during sleep. Parasomnias are not abnormalities of the processes responsible for sleep and wake states. Sleepwalking is more common in childhood (up to 26%), and usually resolves in adolescence; however, it can persist into adulthood (3%).