Table 2.
Study characteristics.
| Studies | Country | Intervention (essential oils) | Application | Control | Sample size (n) | Duration | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayik et al. (31) | Turkey | Lavender oil (Lavandula Hybrida) + almond oil: 5% |
Massage | Standard nursing care | 80 | 10 min/day, per 2 days | SAI (+) |
| Beyliklioglu et al. (32) | Turkey | Lavender oil | Inhalation | Routine care | 80 | 20 min, per 1 day | SAI (+) |
| Corner et al. (33) | America | A blend of lavender (Lavendula angustifolia), rosewood (Aniba rosaerodora), lemon (Citrus limonum), rose (Rosa damascena) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis) oilsat a ratio of 43:29:17:7:4 (2) carrier oil group: sweet almond oil |
Massage | None | 52 | 30 min/week, per 8 weeks | HADS (-) |
| Deng et al. (34) | China | A blend of lavender, bergamot and geranium oils at a ratio of 1:2:3 | Inhalation | Usual care | 80 | 30 min, twice/day | VAS (+) |
| Duluklu et al. (35) | Turkey | Lavender oil | Inhalation | Routine care | 30 | 15 min/day | OAI-23 (+) |
| Graham et al. (36) | Australia | A blend of lavender, bergamot and cedarwood oils at a ratio of 2:1:1 | Inhalation | (1) fractionated low-grade essential oils (2) pure essential oils (3) Carrier oil |
313 | 15–20 min during radiotherapy | HADS (-) |
| Noh and Park (38) | Korea | A blend of mandarin, black pepper, pine and tea tree essential oils at a ratio of 1:1:1:1 | Massage | None | 63 | 30 min/session, 3 times/week per 6 weeks |
HADS (+) |
| Ovayolu et al. (39) | Turkey | (1) fragrance: a blend of lavender, mint, chamomile, jasmine, violet, rosemary and eucalyptus oils at a ratio of 2:2:2:1:1:1:1 (2) 35 min massage with olive oil (3) 35 min massage with aromatherapy oils |
(1) Inhalation (2) Massage (3) Massage |
Routine care | 280 | 3 times/week | RSCL-Psychology (+) |
| Ozkaraman et al. (40) | Turkey | (1) lavender (Lavandula Hybrida) (2) tea tree oil |
Inhalation | None | 70 | 5 min/day | SAI (-) |
| Pimenta et al. (41) | Brazil | (1) 10 mg diazepam (2) Citrus aurantium oil | Inhalation | Saline solution | 42 | 30 min | SAI (+) |
| Santosh et al. (42) | India | Lavender oil | Massage and Inhalation | None | 60 | 10 min/h, during chemotherapy | BAI (+) |
| Serfaty et al. (37) | UK | A choice of 20 essential oils | Massage | CBT | 36 | 1 h/session, 8 sessions/10 weeks | POMS (-) |
| Soden et al. (43) | UK | (1) Lavender oil and an inert carrier oil (2) an inert carrier oil |
Massage | None | 42 | 30 min/week, per 4 weeks | HADS (-) RSCL (-) |
| Wilcock et al. (44) | UK | Lavender + chamomile + sweet almond carrier oil | Massage | Day care | 29 | 30 min/week, per 4 weeks | POMS (-) |
| Wilkinson et al. (46) | UK | Roman chamomile oil + sweet almond carrier oil | Massage | Carrier oil (sweet almond oil) | 46 | 3 full-body massages per 3 weeks | SAI (-) RSCL (-) |
| Wilkinson et al. (45) | UK | Roman chamomile oil + sweet almond carrier oil | Massage | Carrier oil (sweet almond oil) | 87 | 3 full-body massages per 3 weeks | SAI (-) RSCL (-) |
| Wilkinson et al. (47) | UK | A choice of 20 essential oils | Massage | Usual care | 221 | 1 h/week, per 4 weeks | SAI (+) CES-D (-) |