J Menopausal Med.  2018 Aug;24(2):127-132. 10.6118/jmm.2018.24.2.127.

Effect of Aromatherapy on the Treatment of Psychological Symptoms in Postmenopausal and Elderly Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

• Babakhanian M
• Ghazanfarpour M
• Kargarfard L
• Roozbeh N
• Darvish L
• Khadivzadeh T
• Dizavandi

• KMID: 2419622
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.2018.24.2.127

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To critically assess the effect of aromatherapy on the psychological symptoms as noted in the postmenopausal and elderly women.
METHODS
Three following databases were systematically searched: MEDLINE, Scopus and Cochrane Library (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) from inception to January 2018. The search keywords included "˜menopause' AND (aromatherapy), without language restrictions.
RESULTS
In this study, 4 trials were included which fit into our systematic review. The findings demonstrated that the aromatherapy massage have significantly improved psychological symptoms in menopausal and elderly women as compared to the control group (standardized mean difference [SMD] = −1.24; 95% confidence interval, −0.188 to −0.606; P < 0.001 random effect model; 3 trials, moderate to high heterogeneity, I2 = 0.76; P = 0.028). According to 1 of the trials, the aromatherapy oil massage was no more effective than the untreated group regarding their experience of symptoms such as nervousness.
CONCLUSIONS
The aromatherapy may be beneficial in attenuating the psychological symptoms that these women may experience, such as anxiety and depression, but it is not considered as an effective treatment to manage nervousness symptom among menopausal women. This finding should be observed in light of study limitations.

Keyword

Anxiety; Aromatherapy; Depression; Menopause

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Anxiety
Aromatherapy*
Depression
Female
Humans
Massage
Menopause
Population Characteristics

Figure

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  Fig. 1 The process of selection of studies.

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  Fig. 2 Effect of the aromatherapy on the noted psychological symptoms, the horizontal lines denote the 95% confidence interval (CI), ■: point estimate (size of the square corresponds to its weight), ♦: combined overall effect of intervention.

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