Altern Ther Health Med. 2023 Mar;29(2):36-41.
Pruritus is a common skin disease among older adults. With aging, there is a decrease in skin elasticity and thickness, and vascular changes occur that decrease the skin's ability to retain moisture.
To investigate the effects of aromatherapy massage on pruritis and stress levels in older women.
This was a nonequivalence, pre-post, quasi-experimental study. To enhance the appropriateness and accuracy of the intervention, a pilot study was conducted before the main study.
The participants were recruited from six senior citizens' centers in Changwon City, Gyeongnam, South Korea.
The participants were 64 women ≥65 years of age with an average age of 80.7 years and 79.7 years in the intervention and the control groups, respectively.
The intervention comprised aromatherapy massage with a blend of three essential oils: 1 mL of lavender, 0.25 mL of Roman chamomile, and 0.25 mL of sandalwood diluted to 1.5% with a sweet-almond carrier oil. The control group received massages with 0.25% sandalwood oil.
The symptom score table of the Pruritus Score Scale was used to measure the degree, area, and frequency of pruritus and its impact on everyday life. The study also measured skin hydration levels using moisture-measuring module sensor, skin pH using the Howskin device, and stress using the Perceived Stress Scale.
Of the 64 initial participants, 5 dropped out of the study, resulting in 59 being included in the analysis. A significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups regarding relief of pruritus (U = 302.5, P = .039) and stress levels (U = -6.36, P < .001). No adverse effects were observed.
Aromatherapy massage can be an effective intervention to decrease pruritus and stress in older women. Further studies with larger samples that also include men are required to confirm the generalizability of these results.
瘙痒是老年人常见的皮肤疾病。随着年龄的增长，皮肤弹性和厚度会下降，血管会发生变化，从而降低皮肤保持水分的能力。
调查芳香疗法按摩对老年女性瘙痒和压力水平的影响。
这是一项非等效、前后测、准实验研究。为了增强干预措施的适当性和准确性，在进行主要研究之前进行了一项试点研究。
参与者是从韩国庆尚南道昌原市的六所老年人中心招募的。
共有 64 名年龄均在 65 岁及以上的女性，干预组和对照组的平均年龄分别为 80.7 岁和 79.7 岁。
干预措施包括用三种精油（薰衣草 1 毫升、罗马洋甘菊 0.25 毫升、檀香 0.25 毫升）混合制成的芳香疗法按摩，将其与甜杏仁载体油混合稀释至 1.5%。对照组接受 0.25%檀香油按摩。
使用瘙痒评分量表的症状评分表来衡量瘙痒的程度、面积和频率及其对日常生活的影响。研究还使用水分测量模块传感器测量皮肤水分水平，使用 Howskin 设备测量皮肤 pH 值，使用感知压力量表测量压力。
在最初的 64 名参与者中，有 5 名退出了研究，因此有 59 名参与者被纳入分析。干预组和对照组在缓解瘙痒（U = 302.5，P =.039）和压力水平（U = -6.36，P <.001）方面存在显著差异。未观察到不良反应。
芳香疗法按摩可以有效缓解老年女性的瘙痒和压力。需要进一步开展更大样本量的研究，包括男性，以确认这些结果的普遍性。
