Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar;98(9):e14720.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000014720.

The effects of aromatherapy massage on improvement of anxiety among patients receiving palliative care: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Chia-Hsien Hsu  1 , Ching-Chi Chi  2   3 , Pei-Shih Chen  1 , Shu-Hui Wang  4   5 , Tao-Hsin Tung  6 , Shih-Chung Wu  3   7
Affiliations

The effects of aromatherapy massage on improvement of anxiety among patients receiving palliative care: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Chia-Hsien Hsu et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Anxiety in patients receiving palliative care is a noteworthy concern because it may affect their quality of life. Aromatherapy has been widely utilized to improve anxiety among patients receiving palliative care.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of anxiety improvement in patients receiving palliative care by comparing the intervention group (aromatherapy massage) with the control group (common massage alone).

Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, and CINAHL for all related studies from inception through November 30, 2018 without restriction on language. A quantitative synthesis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare the difference in effectiveness scores between the aromatherapy massage and only common massage groups by employing a random-effect model.

Results: We included three RCTs with a total of 160 participants (81 in the intervention group and 79 in the control group) in our systematic review and conducted a quantitative synthesis. The secondary data from the reviewed trials were then pooled using a random-effect model. Anxiety (mean difference = -2.60 [95% confidence interval: -7.82, 2.63], P = .33) was assessed using anxiety scores from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Conclusion: Compared with common massage alone, aromatherapy massage does not provide significant effectiveness of anxiety improvement among patients receiving palliative care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (STAI) flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias summary: authors’ judgments about each risk of bias item for each included study. (“+” indicates a low risk of bias; “-” indicates a high risk of bias; “?” indicates an unclear risk of bias).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Funnel plot of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Grassi L, Caruso R, Sabato S, et al. Psychosocial screening and assessment in oncology and palliative care settings. Front Psychol 2015;5:1485. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sutherland AM. Psychological impact of cancer and its therapy. CA Cancer J Clin 1981;31:159–71. - PubMed
    1. Wilson KG, Wilson KG, Henderson PR, et al. Depression and anxiety disorders in palliative cancer care. J Pain Symptom Manage 2007;33:118–29. - PubMed
    1. Mitchell AJ, Chan M, Bhatti H, et al. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studies. Lancet Oncol 2011;12:160–74. - PubMed
    1. Saevarsdottir T, Fridriksdottir N, Gunnarsdottir S. Quality of life, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and rehabilitation needs of people receiving chemotherapy for cancer at the initiation of chemotherapy and three months later. Cancer Nurs 2010;33:E1–0. - PubMed

Publication types