© 2000 Evidence-Based Nursing
Review: aromatherapy massage is associated with small, transient reductions in anxiety
Cooke B, Ernst E.Aromatherapy: a systematic review.Br J Gen Pract 2000 Jun;50:493–6[Medline]
QUESTION: Does aromatherapy (treatment with aromatic plant extracts known as essential oils) have an effect on clinical outcomes in patients with various conditions?
Clinical trials that were published in any language up to June 1999 were identified by searching Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, British Nursing Index, CISCOM, and AMED using the terms alternative medicine, massage, essential oils, and aromatherapy; and by contacting experts.
Randomised controlled trials of the use of aromatherapy in human patients were included. Studies of the local effects of aromatherapy (eg, antiseptic effects of tea tree oil) and pre-clinical studies of healthy volunteers were excluded.
Data were extracted on the condition under investigation, sample characteristics, type of intervention and placebo, outcomes, and results. Methodological quality of studies was assessed using the Jadad scale (randomisation, blinding, and accounting for dropouts).
12 studies were identified. 6 trials evaluated the effects of aromatherapy massage on anxiety or wellbeing in patients with cancer, patients who had cardiac surgery, and patients in an intensive care unit. All interventions were given by nurses in hospital settings. Jadad
Lecturer, Centre for Evidence Based Nursing University of York York, UK
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