ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2023
Adherence to treatment and parents' perspective about effectiveness of melatonin in children with autism spectrum disorder and sleep disturbances.
Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness and sustained effects of exercise therapy to improve executive function in children and adolescents with autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan: Dynamic symptom trajectories and multidimensional support framework.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Beyond challenging behaviors, sleep maintenance problems in autistic youth at the time of hospitalization are associated with increased caregiver strain.Sleep medicine · 2026Article
- Melatonin Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Sleep Regulation, Behavioral Outcomes, and Challenges Across the Lifespan.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Research progress on melatonin, 5-HT, and orexin in sleep disorders of children with autism spectrum disorder.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMelatonin is considered an effective pharmacological treatment for the sleep disturbances that are reported in > 50% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, real-life data about the long-term course and effectiveness of melatonin treatment in children with ASD is lacking.
methodsIn this retrospective cohort study, we assessed the adherence to melatonin treatment and parents' perspective of its effect on sleep quality and daytime behavior in children with ASD via a parental phone survey of children in the Azrieli National Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research (ANCAN) database. Cox regression analysis was used to assess the effect of key demographic and clinical characteristics on treatment adherence.
resultsMelatonin was recommended for ~ 8% of children in the ANCAN database. These children were characterized by more severe symptoms of autism. The median adherence time for melatonin treatment exceeded 88 months, with the most common reason for discontinuation being a lack of effectiveness (14%). Mild side-effects were reported in 14% of children, and 86%, 54%, and 45% experienced improvements in sleep onset, sleep duration and night awakenings, respectively. Notably, melatonin also improved the daytime behaviors of > 28% of the children. Adherence to treatment was independently associated with improvements in night awakenings and educational functioning (aHR = 0.142, 95%CI = 0.036-0.565; and aHR = 0.195, 95%CI = 0.047-0.806, respectively).
conclusionsBased on parents' report, melatonin is a safe and effective treatment that improves both sleep difficulties and daily behavior of children with ASD.
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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.