1. Melatonin for sleep disturbance in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: prospective observational naturalistic study
- Author
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Richard Morton, Samuele Cortese, Phillip Preece, and Hani F Ayyash
- Subjects
Male ,Sleep Wake Disorders ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Melatonin ,Intellectual Disability ,Intellectual disability ,medicine ,Humans ,Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Prospective Studies ,Child ,Psychiatry ,Adverse effect ,Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ,Analysis of Variance ,Sleep disorder ,Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,General Neuroscience ,Central Nervous System Depressants ,medicine.disease ,Effective dose (pharmacology) ,Treatment Outcome ,Neurodevelopmental Disorders ,Autism spectrum disorder ,Child, Preschool ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,Sleep onset ,Psychology ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Background: Although melatonin is increasingly used for sleep disturbances in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, evidence on effective dose and impact on specific types of sleep disturbance is limited. Method: We assessed 45 children (35 males, mean age: 6.3 ± 1.7 years) with neurodevelopmental disorders (n = 29: intellectual disability; n = 9: autism spectrum disorder; n = 7: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and sleep disturbances, treated with melatonin (mean duration: 326 days) with doses increased according to response. Results: Thirty-eight percent of children responded to low (2.5–3 mg), 31% to medium (5–6 mg) and 9% to high doses (9–10 mg) of melatonin, with a significant increase in total hours of sleep/night, decreased sleep onset delay and decreased number of awakenings/night (all: p = 0.001), as measured with sleep diaries. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: Melatonin is generally effective and safe in children with neurodevelopmental conditions. Increasing above 6 mg/night adds further benefit only in a small percentage of children.
- Published
- 2015
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