Al Twaijri Waleed A, Ba Armah Dua'a, Bin Sabbar Najla, Aldebasi Tariq, Shaheen Naila, Al Bekairy Abdul Kareem S, Al-Jeraisy Majed
Pediatric Neurology Division, Department of Pediatric, King Abdullah Children Specialist Hospital, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Jan;11(1):299-304. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1839_21. Epub 2022 Jan 31.
The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and side effects of melatonin use in a population of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities who had sleep disorders.
This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the pediatric neurology clinic at King Abdulaziz Medical City. A designed questionnaire was given to the parents to inquire about the sleep characteristics of their children before and after using melatonin. The patients' demographic data were collected and different parameters before and after starting melatonin were compared. Categorical variables were summarized and reported in terms of frequency and percent (n%). Continuous variables were reported in terms of mean and standard deviation.
A total of 23 patients were enrolled in our study, of which 15 (65.22%) were male. The mean age was 5.83 ± 3.07 years. For melatonin dose, 9 (39.13%) received 1 mg, 8 (34.78%) received 2 mg, and 6 (26.09%) received over 3 mg. Regarding melatonin duration of use, 7 (30.43%) received melatonin for 0 to 6 months, 7 (30.43%) received it for 7 to 12 months, and 9 (39.13%) received it for over a year. Significant differences were observed in time taken to fall asleep ( =0.046), the number of times the child woke up at night ( =0.071), total sleep time within 24 hours ( =.011), and time taken to wake up ( =.007), while no significant difference was observed in the number of naps taken during the daytime ( =.801). There were no major side effects reported.
Melatonin had a significant impact on total sleep time and quality during the pre and post assessment of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and sleep disorders.
本研究旨在评估褪黑素对患有睡眠障碍的神经发育障碍儿童群体的疗效和副作用。
这是一项在阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王医疗城儿科神经科诊所进行的横断面研究。向家长发放一份设计好的问卷，询问他们孩子使用褪黑素前后的睡眠特征。收集患者的人口统计学数据，并比较开始使用褪黑素前后的不同参数。分类变量按频率和百分比（n%）进行汇总和报告。连续变量按均值和标准差进行报告。
本研究共纳入23例患者，其中15例（65.22%）为男性。平均年龄为5.83±3.07岁。对于褪黑素剂量，9例（39.13%）服用1毫克，8例（34.78%）服用2毫克，6例（26.09%）服用超过3毫克。关于褪黑素的使用时长，7例（30.43%）服用褪黑素0至6个月，7例（30.43%）服用7至12个月，9例（39.13%）服用超过一年。入睡时间（=0.046）、夜间醒来次数（=0.071）、24小时内总睡眠时间（=0.011）和醒来时间（=0.007）存在显著差异，而白天小睡次数（=0.801）无显著差异。未报告重大副作用。
褪黑素在对患有神经发育障碍和睡眠障碍的儿童进行评估前后，对总睡眠时间和质量有显著影响。
