Table 1. Comparison of post-exercise changes in HRV parameters among the control, pure essential oil (sandalwood), and blended essential oil (lavender essential oil) treatments (N = 43).
| HRV parameters | Control (C) | Sandalwood (S) | Sandalwood and lavender (SL) | p-value (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mean ± standard deviation | median value (interquartile range) | mean ± standard deviation | median value (interquartile range) | mean ± standard deviation | median value (interquartile range) | ||
| Mean heart rate (bpm) | 12.40 ± 9.45 | 11.0 (6.0–18.0) | 7.07 ± 11.16 | 10.0 (3.0–14.0) | 5.42 ± 8.62 | 6.0 (0.0–12.0) | 0.09 |
| SDNN (ms) | -16.46 ± 20.05 | -16.2 (-28.4- -4.2) | -14.51 ± 19.46 | -12.7 (-31.9–3.3) | -6.37 ± 16.77 | -9.6 (-15.8–2.7) | 0.20 |
| Normalized LF (ms2) | 10.56 ± 20.95 | 12.0 (-1.0–24.0) | 1.81 ± 22.84 | 2.0 (-9.0–17.0) | 2.19 ± 17.10 | 2.0 (-11.0–12.0) | 0.02* (C)>(S)*; (C)>(SL)* |
| Normalized HF (ms2) | -9.60 ± 21.17 | -12.0 (-24.0–1.0) | -1.67 ± 22.15 | -2.0 (-17.0–9.0) | -3.37 ± 18.34 | -2.0 (-14.0–11.0) | 0.05* (C)<(SL)* |
| LF/HF (ratio) | 1.50 ± 2.81 | 1.0 (-0.1–2.8) | 0.31 ± 2.65 | -0.0 (-0.9–2.3) | 0.10 ± 1.67 | 0.1 (-1.0–1.1) | 0.05* (C)>(S)*; (C)>(SL)* |
HRV: Heart rate variability; SDNN: Standard deviation of all RR intervals; LF: Low frequency; HF: High frequency; bpm: Beats per minute.
*P < 0.05.