Aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil and the prevention of disability in ADL in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: A randomized controlled clinical trial

摘要

Abstract Background Knee osteoarthritis is considered as one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders which leads to joint degeneration and consequently disability in activities of daily living. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of aromatherapy massage with lavender essence on activities of daily living of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods This is a single-blinded, randomized clinical trial. A total of 90 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee referring to the outpatient rheumatology clinics affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences were selected via convenience sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups: intervention group (aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil), placebo group (massage with almond oil) and control group (without massage). The activities of daily living of patients was evaluated according to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, 1 week, and 4 weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 16. Results The activities of daily living of patients were significantly improved immediately and 1 week after the intervention in the intervention group compared with their initial status (p? Conclusion Aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil may reduce the incidence of activities of daily living disability in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. However, further studies are required to confirm findings of this study. Highlights ? A total number of 90 patients participated in the study. From among them, 27 completed the study in the intervention, 27 in the placebo, and 26 patients in the control groups. Ten participants were removed from the study because they had exclusion criteria. displays the processes of enrollment, randomization, dropout of the participants, and analyses. ? Characteristics of the three groups of the study are summarized in . The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the three groups as for demographic characteristics such as age, education, gender, occupation, duration of disease, residence, and BMI. The repeated measurement ANOVA indicated that the patients' ADL were significantly improved immediately, 1 week, and 4 weeks after the intervention across the three groups (). One-way ANOVA revealed that the mean score of patients' ADL was not significantly different between the three groups before intervention. Nonetheless, there were significant differences between the three groups immediately and 1 week after the intervention. However, the differences did not sustain 4 weeks after the intervention ().