Melatonin for sleep disorders in people with autism: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

This research looked at whether melatonin helps autistic people sleep better. Scientists reviewed 15 studies to see if melatonin works. They found that melatonin helped in three ways: people slept longer, fell asleep faster, and had better quality sleep overall. However, it didn't help with waking up during the night or staying awake after falling asleep. The results suggest melatonin can be helpful for some sleep problems in autism.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined melatonin's effectiveness for sleep disorders in people with autism spectrum disorder. Researchers analyzed 15 eligible studies from 595 identified references across seven databases. The analysis found that melatonin showed statistically significant improvements in three key sleep parameters compared to placebo/control groups: total sleep time (SMD = 0.78), sleep latency or time to fall asleep (SMD = 1.23), and sleep efficiency (SMD = -0.70). However, melatonin did not show significant effects on wake after sleep onset or night awakening parameters.

The study concludes that melatonin has possible efficacy for improving sleep duration, reducing time to fall asleep, and enhancing overall sleep efficiency in autistic individuals.

Melatonin appears to be an effective intervention for specific sleep parameters in autism, particularly sleep duration, sleep initiation, and overall sleep quality. However, it may be less effective for maintaining sleep throughout the night. Clinical decisions should consider individual sleep profiles and specific sleep difficulties.

The study reports high heterogeneity across studies (I² = 91-94%), indicating significant variation between included studies. Sample size for the overall meta-analysis was not reported. The abstract does not provide details about study quality assessment or potential publication bias.

Melatonin is a potential therapeutic intervention for improving sleep quality in people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigate the effect of using melatonin as a sleep disorder treatment in people with ASD. Interventionist studies were searched in seven databases. A total of 595 references were identified, 15 of which were eligible for the systemic review and meta-analysis.

Melatonin use presented a positive effect on total sleep time (standardized mean difference- SMD = 0.78; 95%CI = 0.35; 1.21; I = 91%), on sleep latency (SMD = 1.23; 95%CI = 0.35; 2.11; I = 94%), and on sleep efficiency (SMD = -0.70; 95%CI = -1.23; -0.16; I = 91%) when comparing the intervention group with the placebo/control group via the global analysis. According to the global analysis, the wake after sleep onset and night awakening parameters were not statistically significant. Melatonin has possible efficacy over total time, latency, and efficiency sleep parameters.