MSN, RN, Doctoral Candidate, College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, and Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Chung-Jen Junior College of Nursing, Health Sciences and Management.
PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University.
J Nurs Res. 2020 Jun;28(3):e96. doi: 10.1097/jnr.0000000000000331.
The postpartum period is the most crucial but also the most fragile stage of most pregnancies. The health benefits of aromatherapy have recently become more widely accepted among medical experts. Although a number of studies have examined these health benefits, no systematic reviews have been conducted to assess the effects of aromatherapy on the psycho-physiological health of postpartum women.
This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of aromatherapy interventions on the psycho-physiological health of postpartum women, to determine the methods that were used to measure intervention effectiveness, and to identify the types of interventions that were used.
We searched for studies that evaluated the effects of aromatherapy on postpartum women published in the Chinese or English languages before March 2018. We used online databases such as the Taiwan Journal Index, Centre for European Policy Studies, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Social Sciences Citation Index. The search keywords used were "women," AND "postpartum," OR "postnatal" AND "aromatherapy," OR "aroma," OR "essential oils." Only randomized controlled trials including humans as study participants were included. The methodological quality of the trials was assessed using the modified Jadad scale. The quality of the full-text studies was assessed by three reviewers.
The 15 studies that were included in this systematic review were performed in Iran, England, and the United States and included 2,131 participants in total. The numbers of participants in each study ranged between 35 and 635. The review found that the effective duration of aromatherapy varied according to the essential oils that were selected. The visual analog scale was the most frequently used measure of postpartum pain. Most of the studies found that the aromatherapy intervention improved postpartum physiological and psychological health, with positive effects shown on anxiety, depression, distress, fatigue, mood, nipple fissure pain, physical pain, post-cesarean-delivery pain, post-cesarean-delivery nausea, postepisiotomy pain, postepisiotomy recovery, sleep quality, and stress. Most of the studies reported no serious intervention-related side effects.
This systematic review may serve as a reference for healthcare workers in caring for postpartum women. Aromatherapy may be applied as a noninvasive complementary intervention to promote physio-psychological comfort in postpartum women.
产后阶段是大多数妊娠中最关键但也是最脆弱的阶段。最近，医学专家越来越多地接受芳香疗法的健康益处。尽管有许多研究探讨了这些健康益处，但尚未进行系统评价来评估芳香疗法对产后妇女心理生理健康的影响。
本系统评价旨在评估芳香疗法干预对产后妇女心理生理健康的有效性，确定用于衡量干预效果的方法，并确定所使用的干预类型。
我们检索了 2018 年 3 月前发表的评价芳香疗法对产后妇女影响的中文和英文研究，使用了在线数据库，如台湾期刊索引、欧洲政策研究中心、护理学和联合健康文献累积索引、考科兰图书馆、PubMed 和社会科学引文索引。使用的检索关键词是“妇女”、“产后”或“产褥期”以及“芳香疗法”、“香气”或“精油”。仅纳入以人为研究对象的随机对照试验。使用改良 Jadad 量表评估试验的方法学质量。三位评审员评估全文研究的质量。
本系统评价共纳入 15 项研究，分别在伊朗、英国和美国进行，共纳入 2131 名参与者。每项研究的参与者人数在 35 至 635 人之间。本综述发现，所选精油的不同会影响芳香疗法的有效持续时间。视觉模拟评分法是产后疼痛最常用的测量方法。大多数研究发现，芳香疗法干预改善了产后生理和心理健康，对焦虑、抑郁、痛苦、疲劳、情绪、乳头皲裂疼痛、身体疼痛、剖宫产术后疼痛、剖宫产术后恶心、会阴切开术后疼痛、会阴切开术后恢复、睡眠质量和压力均有积极影响。大多数研究报告无严重的干预相关副作用。
本系统评价可为医护人员护理产后妇女提供参考。芳香疗法可作为非侵入性的补充干预措施，促进产后妇女的身心舒适。
