School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Department of Nursing and Health Management, Baotou Iron and Steel Vocational and Technical College, Baotou, China.
Front Public Health. 2022 May 30;10:853056. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.853056. eCollection 2022.
Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in people with cancer. Medical therapies are usually prescribed to alleviate anxiety and depression, but they are associated with a variety of adverse effects. Recently, aromatherapy showed potential as a complementary medicine to improve psychological health and wellbeing. However, its effectiveness on relieving anxiety and depression has not been established.
This study explored the beneficial effects of aromatherapy on psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression in people with cancer.
We searched international databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, Ebscohost, ProQuest and Scopus from inception to 31 May 2021. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias. The systematic review and meta-analysis were performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Quantitative analysis was performed on the studies that met our inclusion criteria, and Meta-analysis was performed on the studies with available data by RevMan software.
The quality of the literatures were assessed carefully by two researchers, a total of 17 studies were included in the systematic review and 10 articles were conducted in meta-analysis. The aromatherapy was effective in relieving anxiety (SMD = -0.49, < 0.05) in people with cancer. Subgroup analysis suggested that most effective methods were aromatic massage ( = -0.70, < 0.005), aromatherapy with lavender essential oils ( = -1.12, < 0.01), short-time interventions (duration < 4weeks) ( = -0.87, < 0.05) and studies in Asia ( = -0.83, < 0.05). Regarding depression and psychological wellbeing, there were no difference between aromatherapy and control groups.
In cancer patients, the aromatherapy was effective for relieving anxiety. However, there was no beneficial effect on depression and psychological wellbeing.
PROSPERO, identifier: 42021272465.
焦虑和抑郁在癌症患者中非常普遍。医学疗法通常被开用来缓解焦虑和抑郁，但它们与各种不良反应有关。最近，芳香疗法显示出作为一种补充医学来改善心理健康和幸福感的潜力。然而，其缓解焦虑和抑郁的效果尚未确定。
本研究探讨了芳香疗法对癌症患者心理症状（如焦虑和抑郁）的有益影响。
我们从建库到 2021 年 5 月 31 日在国际数据库（包括 PubMed、Web of Science、Cochrane Library、Embase、Medline、Ebscohost、ProQuest 和 Scopus）中进行了检索。使用 Cochrane 协作风险偏倚评估工具评估风险偏倚。根据 PRISMA 指南进行系统评价和荟萃分析。对符合纳入标准的研究进行定量分析，对有可用数据的研究使用 RevMan 软件进行荟萃分析。
两位研究人员仔细评估了文献的质量，共有 17 项研究纳入系统评价，10 项研究进行荟萃分析。芳香疗法对癌症患者的焦虑有缓解作用（SMD = -0.49， < 0.05）。亚组分析表明，最有效的方法是芳香按摩（ = -0.70， < 0.005）、薰衣草精油芳香疗法（ = -1.12， < 0.01）、短期干预（持续时间 < 4 周）（ = -0.87， < 0.05）和亚洲的研究（ = -0.83， < 0.05）。关于抑郁和心理幸福感，芳香疗法与对照组之间没有差异。
在癌症患者中，芳香疗法对缓解焦虑有效。然而，对抑郁和心理幸福感没有有益的影响。
PROSPERO，标识符：42021272465。
