Master Program in Long-Term Care, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan.
School of Nursing, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 11031 Taiwan.
Complement Ther Med. 2019 Aug;45:156-166. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.06.006. Epub 2019 Jun 15.
The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effects of aromatherapy on sleep improvements.
A search of randomized controlled trials was conducted in four English and two Chinese medical electronic databases. Two authors independently performed the search, assessed the methodological quality, and extracted data. Then, final studies were selected after consensus with the third author.
In total, 31 trials met the inclusion criteria, of which four had low risk, while the overall bias in 26 was uncertain in terms of methodological quality. The heterogeneity was high among the trials (Q = 341.544, p < 0.001, I = 91.216%). There was a significant effect of aromatherapy on sleep quality (Hedges's g = 1.103 (95% confidence interval: 0.813˜1.393, p < 0.001). There was a publication bias (Egger's regression intercept = 7.127, t = 3.055, p = 0.004 and Begg test, Kendall's tau with continuity correction, tau = 0.335 and Z = 2.651, p = 0.008). The subgroup analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the methodological quality among different studies (Q = 18.350, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analyses still revealed high heterogeneity after omitting one study at a time.
The results showed that aromatherapy can be applied by clinical staff to effectively improve sleep quality. However, because there was a high degree of heterogeneity among studies, the inferences of the results need to be applied with caution.
本研究旨在进行系统评价和荟萃分析，以考察芳香疗法对改善睡眠的影响。
在四个英文和两个中文医学电子数据库中进行了随机对照试验的检索。两位作者独立进行了检索、评估方法学质量并提取数据。然后，通过与第三位作者达成共识，选择最终研究。
共有 31 项试验符合纳入标准，其中 4 项试验风险较低，而 26 项试验的总体方法学质量偏倚不确定。这些试验之间存在高度异质性（Q = 341.544，p < 0.001，I = 91.216%）。芳香疗法对睡眠质量有显著影响（Hedges's g = 1.103（95%置信区间：0.813˜1.393，p < 0.001）。存在发表偏倚（Egger 回归截距 = 7.127，t = 3.055，p = 0.004 和 Begg 检验，Kendall's tau 与连续性校正，tau = 0.335 和 Z = 2.651，p = 0.008）。亚组分析表明，不同研究之间的方法学质量存在显著差异（Q = 18.350，p < 0.001）。敏感性分析在每次删除一项研究后仍显示出高度异质性。
结果表明，芳香疗法可以被临床工作人员应用，有效改善睡眠质量。然而，由于研究之间存在高度异质性，对结果的推断需要谨慎应用。
