ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2020
Analgesic Efficacy of Melatonin: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trials.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of melatonin on postoperative sleep quality: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial sequential analysis.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2023Pooled it
- Nutritional Strategies in the Rehabilitation of Musculoskeletal Injuries in Athletes: A Systematic Integrative Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Melatonin beyond chronobiology: integrating pharmacokinetics, dose-exposure forecasting, and clinical evidence.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Management strategies for burning mouth syndrome: a comprehensive review.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2026Review
- Article
- Comparative Analysis of Melatonin and Polydeoxyribonucleotide: Possible Benefits of Co-Treatment Effects and Potential Synergistic Applicability.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Melatonin rhythm disorder is more pronounced in major depressive disorder with non-suicidal self-injury.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- The Potential of Integrative Cancer Treatment Using Melatonin and the Challenge of Heterogeneity in Population-Based Studies: A Case Report of Colon Cancer and a Literature Review.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Review
- Article
- Sleep as a Therapeutic Target for Pain Management.Current pain and headache reports · 2023Review
- Sleep disorders in chronic pain and its neurochemical mechanisms: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Gut Bless Your Pain-Roles of the Gut Microbiota, Sleep, and Melatonin in Chronic Orofacial Pain and Depression.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Potential benefits of melatonin to control pain in ventilated preterm newborns: An updated review.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2022Review
- The Circadian Hormone Melatonin Inhibits Morphine-Induced Tolerance and Inflammation via the Activation of Antioxidative Enzymes.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Melatonin and Alprazolam as Anxiolytic Agents in Minor Oral Surgical Procedures - A Comparative Study.Annals of maxillofacial surgeryArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have reported controversial findings regarding the effects of melatonin on pain reduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of melatonin on pain among adults using a meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (RDBPCTs). PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and the bibliographies of relevant articles were searched up to February 2020. Two of the authors independently evaluated eligibility of the studies based on the pre-determined criteria and extracted data. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the pain score change were calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis. Out of 463 that met the initial criteria, a total of 30 trials, which involved 1967 participants with 983 in an intervention group and 984 in a control group, were included in the final analysis. In a random-effects meta-analysis, the use of melatonin reduced chronic pain in all the trials (5 studies, SMD -0.65, 95% CI -0.96 to -0.34,
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.