Melatonin and sleep in children on the autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Autism is a developmental condition which affects the person’s perception of the world and communication with others as well as impairments in developmental language, and problems related to sleep. (Leicester, 2016). As part of the holistic management of the child with autism, complementary therapies are being offered, such as exogenous melatonin. A hormone produced by the enigmatic pineal gland which is stimulated by darkness to improve insomnia. This study assesses melatonin in improving sleep problems in children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Therefore, the research question is as follows: “Is melatonin effective in reducing sleep disturbance in children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder?” The research question was formulated using the PEO framework, where P stands for Population, namely, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, E stands for Exposure, hence effectiveness of melatonin, and lastly, O is Outcome, that is, reducing sleep disturbance. In order to identify relevant studies, a search was conducted accessing several databases. The articles had to be published in the English language during the last 10 years. Furthermore, the search included both girls and boys with ASD, whose ages ranged between 0-18 years of age. The search eventually retrieved six articles, three random controlled trials, one meta-synthesis, one systematic review, and one cohort study. These were subsequently critically appraised using the CASP tools to check for their validity and relevance, while ethical issues were taken into consideration. All selected studies demonstrate that exogenous melatonin does improve sleep problems in children with ASD. However, more research related to the local setting is recommended due to certain limitations, such as, the small sample sizes. More awareness is required for practitioners and Health Care Worker’s to learn about the possible benefits of melatonin. This could be done through media, leaflets and helplines to reduce the stigma associated with these children.