title: Evaluating the effects of diffused lavender in an adult day care center for patients with dementia in an effort to decrease behavioral issues: a pilot study.
abstract: Objectives:To evaluate the effects of diffused lavender on the frequency of behavioral issues [BIs], defined as a composite of restlessness/wandering [RW], agitation [AGT], anger [ANG], and anxiety [ANX] in an adult day care center. Secondary objectives evaluate systematic differences on the frequency of BIs between age cohorts, gender, and individual behaviors.Design:Pre-post quasi-experimental study.Setting:Private nonprofit adult day care center for patients with dementia.Participants:Elderly patients older than 65 years of age with a clinical diagnosis of dementia, who require daytime monitoring.Intervention:Lavender aromatherapy twice a day for 20 min during a two-month period during active clinic days.Measurements:Behavioral issues were recorded using the behavior/intervention monthly flow record during the pre- and post-intervention periods.Results:There was no significant difference on frequency of BIs between pre-intervention and post-intervention periods (p= .06). There was a significant difference between pre-intervention and post-intervention total number of AGT occurrences (129 vs. 25;pvalue < .01). There was no significant difference between age cohorts for computed difference of RW, ANG, and ANX issues. There was a significant difference between age cohorts for computed difference of AGT (pvalue = .04) as the 70-85 age cohort showed less agitation compared to the 85-100 age cohort.Conclusion:The use of diffused lavender twice daily has shown to reduce the frequency of agitation in elderly patients with dementia, especially in the 70-85 age cohort. Though diffused lavender did not show statistical differences in the frequency of other behaviors (restlessness/wander, anger, anxiety), the study population may have been too small to find a difference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; River Garden Senior Services, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moorman Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: River Garden Senior Services , Jacksonville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orman
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Equity and Quality Research, University of Florida , Jacksonville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aldridge
authors.affiliation: River Garden Senior Services , Jacksonville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leger-Krall
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hincapie Castillo
keywords: Lavender; agitation; alternative therapies; aromatherapy; dementia; essential oils