Efficacy of Melatonin for Inducing Sleep in Pediatric Electroencephalogram Recordings: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Objective: To compare the efficacy of melatonin, melatonin with sleep deprivation, and chloral hydrate with sleep deprivation on sleep induction in Asian children. Methods: For this randomized single-blind controlled trial, we recruited 45 children aged 1-5 years and older who were not cooperative on electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, randomly allocated to three groups: melatonin (group A), melatonin and sleep deprivation (group B), or chloral hydrate and sleep deprivation (group C). Between-group comparisons were performed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: Stage II sleep was achieved in 92.8%, 100%, and 100% of participants in groups A, B, and C, respectively. Sleep latency was significantly shorter in Group C than in Groups A (p = .022) and B (p = .027), while Group C had better sleep efficacy than Groups A (p = .02) and B (p = .04). Conclusion: Melatonin with sleep deprivation is less effective at inducing sleep than combined chloralhydrate and sleep deprivation.