Exploring melatonin prescribing among customers of compounding pharmacies in Australia

To the Editor: In Australia, when melatonin is requested in doses higher than those available in preprepared formulations, in different dosage forms, or for people under 55 years of age, private prescriptions and extempora-neous preparations are often used. There is evidence of efficacy of melatonin in shiftwork-related sleep disorders, jet lag, circadian rhythm disorders, and for older people with chronic insomnia, but not for insomnia generally.1-3 There is concern over increasing use of melatonin in children, but no current data exist for actual melatonin usage patterns in Australia. In September 2010, we conducted a 2-week prospective drug use audit of melatonin prescriptions dispensed to patients by Australian compounding pharmacies.