Melatonin improves sleep-wake patterns in psychomotor retarded children

Five children with severe psychomotor retardation (mean age 8.2 +/- 3.6 yea rs) and irregular sleep-wake patterns underwent 1 week of wrist actigraphic monitoring before and after treatment with 3 mg melatonin. Three underwent multiple measurements of urinary sulfatoxymelatonin levels. Urine sulfatox ymelatonin levels were abnormally low, without any significant day/night di fferences. Melatonin treatment increased nighttime sleep from 5.9 +/- 0.8 t o 7.3 +/- 0.5 hours (paired t test, P < 0.01) and sleep efficiency from 69. 3% +/- 6.2% to 88.3% +/- 2.3% (P < 0.01). Daytime sleep decreased from 3.2 +/- 1.2 to 1.7 +/- 1.2 hours (P < 0.05). Thus, no change in 24-hour total s leep time (9.1 +/- 1.5 vs 9.0 +/- 1.6 hours) occurred. Administration of 3 mg melatonin to five severely psychomotor retarded children resulted in a s ignificant improvement in their sleep-wake patterns. (C) 2000 by Elsevier S cience Inc. All rights reserved.