aromatherapy massage

Phytomedicine

Anxiety is one of the uprising psychiatric disorders of the last decades and lavender administration has been traditionally suggested as a possible treatment. The objective of this review is to assess the efficacy of lavender, in any form and way of administration, on anxiety and anxiety-related conditions. The PRISMA guidelines were followed. Retrieved data were qualitatively and quantitatively synthesized. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and Non-Randomized Studies (NRSs) which investigated the efficacy of lavender, in any form and way of administration, on patients with anxiety, involved in anxiety-inducing settings or undergoing anxiety-inducing activities, compared to any type of control, without language restrictions, were identified through electronic database searches. Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were systematically searched. All databases were screened up to November 2018. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the following domains were considered: randomization, allocation sequence concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome data, selective outcome reporting, and other biases. 65 RCTs (7993 participants) and 25 NRSs (1200 participants) were included in the qualitative synthesis and 37 RCTs (3964 participants) were included in the quantitative synthesis. Overall, the qualitative synthesis indicated that 54 RCTs and 17 NRSs reported at least a significant result in favor of lavender use for anxiety. The quantitative synthesis showed that lavender inhalation can significantly reduce anxiety levels measured with any validated scale (Hedges’ g = −0.73 [95% CI −1.00 to −0.46], p < 0.00001, 1682 participants), as well as state anxiety (Spielberger's state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI)-State mean difference = −5.99 [95% CI −9.39 to −2.59], p < 0.001, 901 participants) and trait anxiety (STAI-Trait mean difference = −8.14 [95% CI −14.44 to −1.84], p < 0.05, 196 participants). Lavender inhalation did not show a significant ...

Effects of lavender on anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis