What is the role of melatonin in the management of sleep disorders in children?
Abstract
There is evidence to suggest that melatonin may be effective in the management of some sleep disorders in children, and that it is not harmful to the child. Although these results are based on higher-level evidence (randomized controlled trials), they are supported by a fewer number of studies with very small sample sizes. Moreover, the clinical significance of the reported effects is unclear. There is insufficient evidence to conclude on the efficacy and safety of melatonin in children with sleep disorders, and thus, additional large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed in this area. This conclusion is based on a systematic review (1) recently conducted by the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center (Edmonton, Alberta) on the use of melatonin for the management of sleep disorders. We were interested in the efficacy and safety of melatonin in sleep-disturbed populations of all ages, and thus, conducted subgroup analyses for children. A number of electronic biomedical databases were searched, and the reference list of included studies was reviewed. Abstracts of the Associated Professional Sleep Society covering the period from 1999 to 2003 were hand-searched. For the review of efficacy of melatonin, a study was included if it was a placebo-controlled, randomized trial and the population suffered from a sleep disturbance. The main outcomes of the efficacy review were sleep onset latency (the time between laying down to sleep and the onset of sleep) and…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 122 participants or records.
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