1. Aromas: Characteristics of included studies.
| Study ID | Methods | Participants | Interventions | Outcomes |
| Graham 2003 | RCT; 3 parallel groups. | DESCRIPTION: 313 patients undergoing radiotherapy, in Australia. NUMBERS: Unclear how many patients per group. AGE, mean (range): 65 (33‐90) years old. GENDER (male/female): 163/150. ETHNICITY: not described. INCLUSION CRITERIA: If a course of eight or more fractions of radiotherapy was prescribed. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: not described. | FRAGRANT PLACEBO: Patients were administered the carrier oil with low‐grade essential oils. The carrier oil was sweet almond cold‐pressed pure vegetable oil. The low‐grade fractionated oils (lavender, bergamot, and cedarwood) were of unknown purity (supplied by Naturistics, Hornsby, Australia). These fractionated oils were diluted with the carrier oil in a ratio of 1:2. NON‐FRAGRANT PLACEBO: Patients were administered the carrier oil only: sweet almond cold‐pressed pure vegetable oil. PURE ESSENTIAL OIL: 100% pure essential oils of lavender, bergamot, and cedarwood were administered in a ratio of 2:1:1 (supplied by "In Essence"). All patients were administered their study treatment via a necklace with a plastic‐backed paper bib, donned before radiotherapy treatment each day and removed after exiting the treatment bunker. Three drops of oil were applied to the bib. Typical duration lasted 15‐20 minutes. Patients were seated in waiting areas segregated according to study arm allocation to avoid cross‐exposure. | ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, and FATIGUE: Measured via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Somatic and Psychological Health Report (SPHERE), which is composed of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Symptoms of Fatigue and Anergia (SOFA) scales. In a multivariate analysis: There were significantly fewer patients with anxiety >7 in the non‐fragrant placebo arm than both the essential oil (Odds ratio = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.1 to 6.1), and fragrant placebo (Odds ratio = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.1 to 6.7) groups. There were no significant differences between groups in depression scores, the General Health Questionnaire, and fatigue scale. |
| Holmes 2002 | CCT; Cross‐over trial, 2 conditions. | DESCRIPTION: 15 psychiatric inpatients in the communal area of a long‐stay hospital psychogeriatric ward for patients with behavioural problems, in England. NUMBERS: 15 patients; cross‐over trial. AGE, mean (SD): 79.0 (6.3) years old. GENDER (male/female): 6/9. ETHNICITY: not described. INCLUSION CRITERIA: International classification of disease (ICD)‐10 diagnostic criteria for severe dementia; evidence of agitated behaviour‐ defined as scoring > 3 on the Pittsburgh Agitation Scale at some point each day over the period of a week. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: none described. | LAVENDER: The communal area of the unit was diffused with a standard concentration of lavender oil (2%), using three aroma‐streams for a period of two hours between the period of 4pm and 6pm. PLACEBO: The communal area of the unit was diffused with water, using three aroma‐streams for a period of two hours between the period of 4pm and 6pm. A total of five treatments and five placebo trials were carried out for each patient over a period of two weeks. | AGITATION: Measured on the 16‐point Pittsburgh Agitation Scale by a blinded observer for the final hour of each two hour study period. Outcomes are presented as median scores for each patient in each condition. 9 patients showed an improvement with lavender. 5 patients showed no change with lavender. 1 patient showed a worsening of condition with lavender. Wilcoxon Signed‐Ranks test, P = 0.016 Of the 4 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 3 improved and 1 showed no change; of the 7 patients with vascular dementia, 5 improved and 2 showed no change; of the 3 patients with Dementia with Lewy Bodies, 2 showed no change and 1 worsened; the 1 patient with Fronto‐temporal lobe dementia improved. |
SD: standard deviation