title: Effect of aromatherapy massage on dysmenorrhea in Turkish students.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy massage on dysmenorrhea. The study used a quasiexperimental design with the subjects as their own control. Every participant applied both aromatherapy massage with lavender oil and placebo massage with odorless liquid petrolatum [soft paraffin]. The population comprised 438 midwifery and nursing students. The 150 students who had declared that they had suffered from dysmenorrhea used a visual analog scale to indicate their level of pain. Higher scores reflected a greater severity of dysmenorrhea. Forty-four students volunteered to participate in the study. When the lavender massage and the placebo massage were compared, the visual analog scale score of the lavender massage was found to decrease at a statistically significant rate. This study showed that massage was effective in reducing dysmenorrhea. In addition, this study showed that the effect of aromatherapy massage on pain was higher than that of placebo massage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey. sejder@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Serap Ejder
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Apay
authors.forename: Sevban
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Reva Balci
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Akpinar
authors.forename: Ayda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celebioglu
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D019341:Aromatherapy / Q000379:methods*; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D027523:Lavandula; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010919:Placebos; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013338:Students, Nursing; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010919:Placebos; D010938:Plant Oils; C045718:lavender oil