A critical evaluation of the hypnotic efficacy of melatonin

This paper reviews the available literature on the use of melatonin as a hypnotic in normal volunteers and in patients with noncircadian insomnias. Data are ordered in terms of studies of subject self-reports and polygraphic data and are seen in the context of generally accepted criteria for assessment of clinically used hypnotics. It is concluded that, at the present time, there is very little systematic evidence to suggest that melatonin has significant hypnotic efficacy in these populations.