There is a fast increasing interest in the use of aromatherapy among medical professionals. This is not only because aromatherapy has become popular due to the limits of the conventional medicine but also because medical doctors are suffering from certain problems in the medical insurance. This is why the author is tying to explain the therapeutic effects of aromatherapy and to correct the widespread fantastical beliefs on the basis of evidences and author's experiences. Conclusively, the main effects of aromatherapy are antimicrobial, psychotropic, and immune-stimulant.
Aromatherapy* ; Insurance

There is a fast increasing interest in the use of aromatherapy among medical professionals. This is not only because aromatherapy has become popular due to the limits of the conventional medicine but also because medical doctors are suffering from certain problems in the medical insurance. This is why the author is tying to explain the therapeutic effects of aromatherapy and to correct the widespread fantastical beliefs on the basis of evidences and author's experiences. Conclusively, the main effects of aromatherapy are antimicrobial, psychotropic, and immune-stimulant.
Aromatherapy* ; Insurance

No abstract available.
Aromatherapy* ; Primary Health Care*

No abstract available.
Aromatherapy ; Knee ; Massage ; Osteoarthritis

PURPOSE: To identify the effects of the aromatherapy on stress of nurses working in operating room. METHODS: The study design was nonequivalent control-group pretest-posttest design. The subjects were 45 nurses working in the operating room. Experimental group were 24 nurses in G Hospital and control group were 21 nurses in U Hospital. All of the subjects were measured of the subjective stress, stress responses and the job stress. For aromatherapy, lavender, bergamot, and ylang were mixed in the ratio of 2:2:1. RESULTS: 1) "The subjective stress of experimental group is lower than that of the control group" was supported(t=-2.70, p=.01). 2) "The stress responses of experimental group is lower than that of the control group" was supported(t=-2.49, p=.01). 3) "The job stress of experimental group is lower than that of the control group" was supported(t=-7.97, p=.00). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that such aroma inhalation method could be effective on stress of nurses working in operating room.
Aromatherapy* ; Inhalation ; Lavandula ; Operating Rooms*

BACKGROUND: This study is to investigate on how much the dysmenorrhea and lower abdominal pain(LAP)/back pain are improved by the aromatherapy which is emerging as an alternative therapy. METHODS: In order to get the data by questionnaire, 245 subject was selected from women student class of a high school at rural area from June 2000 to August 2000. 125 subject was selected who are above the 5 grade of LAP/back pain. Among the 129 subject, aroma was given to 69 subject and placebo was given to 56 subject. The subject was investigated how the dysmenorrhea was improved by using the aroma and placebo. RESULTS: After the aromatherapy, severities of dysmenorrhea and LAP/back pain imporved in aroma group and placebo group. Therefore, there is not statistical difference between both groups. CONCLUSION: The herbal aroma is not effective more than placebo aroma to relieve dysmenorrhea.
Aromatherapy* ; Dysmenorrhea* ; Female ; Female* ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study adopted the non-equivalent control group pre-posttest design in order to examine the effects of aromatherapy and hand massage on anxiety, sleep, and depression in the female aged at residential facilities. METHODS: This study was executed with the female aged at two residential facilities divided into an experimental group (n=35) and a control group (n=37). Data were collected by checking changes in the anxiety, sleep, and depression of the subjects who had received aromatherapy and hand massage ten times for two weeks. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test and ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance). RESULTS: The condition of anxiety and depression of the experimental group who had received aromatherapy and hand massage was significantly lower than that of the control group. Also, the condition of sleep of experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The aromatherapy and hand massage program had a positive effect on institutionalized elders' anxiety, sleep, and depression pattern.
Anxiety* ; Aromatherapy* ; Depression* ; Female ; Hand* ; Humans ; Massage* ; Residential Facilities*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of aromatherapy on anxiety, depression, and stress. METHODS: Medical and nursing literature databases were searched to identify studies comparing aromatherapy with a control group. RESULTS: Thirty-one studies published till September 2008 were included in the analysis. Twenty-two studies showed that aromatherapy generally had positive effects on the anxiety level (ES: 0.61). Thirteen studies showed that aromatherapy has significantly decreased the depression level (ES: 0.91). Seven studies showed that aromatherapy had positive effect on the stress level (ES: 0.78). Further analysis found that aromatherapy was more effective for normal population than for patients group with anxiety and stress. On the contrary, aromatherapy was more effective for patients group than for general population with depression. CONCLUSION: Aromatherapy had positive effect on anxiety, depression and stress level. But there was no sufficient evidence to show the two different aromatherapy methods and two different period of aromatherapy had different effects due to small sample size and heterogeneity of sample. And it was needed to perform follow-up and further comparative studies.
Anxiety ; Aromatherapy* ; Depression ; Humans ; Nursing* ; Population Characteristics ; Sample Size

PURPOSE: This study was to investigate the effects of aromatherapy massage on pain, physical function, sleep disturbance and depression in elderly women with osteoarthritis. METHOD: The study design was a quasi-experiment design with a non-equivalent control group pre and post-test. The study pool included elderly female patients older than 65years old suffering from osteoarthritis. RESULTS: Pain in the experimental group after the aromatherapy massage was significantly decreased than that in the control group. The physical disability in the experimental group after the aromatherapy massage was significantly decreased than that in the control group. The sleep disturbance in the experimental group after the aromatherapy massage was significantly decreased than that in the control group. The depression in the experimental group after the aromatherapy massage was significantly decreased than that in the control group. CONCLUSION: Aromatherapy may be adopted as an effective nursing intervention for osteoarthritis.
Aged* ; Aromatherapy* ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Massage* ; Nursing ; Osteoarthritis*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of aroma inhalation on stress responses (physical symptoms, levels of anxiety, perceived stresses)of nursing students. METHOD: This study was a quasi-experimental research using anon-equivalent pre-post design and was conducted from June 1 to June 5, 2002. The subjects consisted of 77 junior nursing students who were divided into 39 experimental group members and 38 control group members. A pretest and Post-test were conducted to measure body symptoms, the level of anxiety, and the level of perceived stress. In the experimental group, aromas were given using an aroma lamp, lavender, peppermint, rosemary and Clary-Sage. In the control group, the treatment was not administered. RESULT: As a result of administering aroma inhalation to nursing students, their physical symptoms decreased, their anxiety scores were low, and their perceived stress scores were low, showing that aroma inhalation could be a very effective stress management method. CONCLUSION: Nursing educators should play an important role in contributing to college students' physical and psychological health by helping enhance their recognition of stress management and effectively relieving their stress using essential oils.
*Aromatherapy ; Female ; Humans ; Stress, Psychological/*therapy ; Students, Nursing/*psychology