Recent pilot study findings suggest that the use of aromatherapy as an adjunctive non-pharmacological nursing intervention may provide pain-related benefits for cancer patients at the end of life. Oncology Nursing Clinical Journal.
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the use of aromatherapy in addition to traditional pharmacological pain management on outcomes such as pain intensity and perception in a cancer patient population at the end of life or receiving hospice care. The study was conducted from August 2016 to September 2021 at the John D. Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan.
Certified clinical aromatherapists administered aromatherapy after patients first rated their pain level on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest level of pain. Aromatherapy included clove bud, lavender, frankincense or sandalwood essential oils, which were applied to the area of localized pain or to the chest if the pain was generalized.
Patients were asked to rate their pain 15 minutes after aromatherapy administration. They were also asked how aromatherapy made them feel, how much relief they found, and whether they would like to receive more of this treatment. Patients’ medical records were also reviewed for use of oral morphine equivalents 24 hours before and after administration.
Forty people participated in this study. The mean age of patients was 69 years (range 54-85 years), and the population included 21 different cancer diagnoses.
Overall, patients reported a decrease in their pain ratings after aromatherapy, with a mean score of 3.67 (SD, 2.58) after the intervention compared to a mean score of 5.15 (SD, 3.13) before the intervention (P Patients’ average opioid use in the 24 hours before aromatherapy was 103 mg oral morphine equivalent, whereas their average opioid use in the 24 hours after aromatherapy was 86 mg oral morphine equivalent.
After receiving aromatherapy, 25 respondents reported feeling relaxed, good, better, or enjoying the aromatherapy. Seven other respondents reported being indifferent/same, one reported finding the smell unpleasant, and seven did not respond to the question about how they felt when receiving aromatherapy.
“The results of this pilot study suggest that aromatherapy may be useful in reducing the intensity of cancer-related pain in cancer patients,” the researchers wrote in their report.
reference
Cullen G, Neely L, McDonald MR, Cousino KM, Drobek C, Przywara MA. Efficacy of aromatherapy in managing cancer-related pain at the end of life: a pilot study. Clinical Oncology Nursing. 2023;27(4):404-410. doi:10.1188/23.CJON.404-410
