COMPARING THE EFFECT OF MASSAGE AND INHALATION ROMATHERAPY ON ANXIETY LEVEL OF THE PATIENTS IN THE PREOPERATIVE PERIOD

The prevalence of preoperative anxiety in adult is variable from11 to 80 percent.
Delay in healing- and increasing use of narcotics and anesthetics are some of the accompanying
problems with anxiety before the surgery. Inhalation aromatherapy and massage ,nursing intervention,
are two of the complementary medicine components to decrease anxiety. The aim of this study was to
compare the effects of massage and inhalation aromatherapy on anxiety level of the patients in the
preoperative period.
Materials&Methods: In this clinical trial, 72 candidates for heart and abdominal surgery who admitted
in Ahvaz hospitals were randomly allocated into two massage and inhalation aromatherapy groups.
The Spielberger scale was used to measure the anxiety level. Massage group received twenty minutes
of stroking backrub with almond oil . Twenty minute of inhalation with handkerchief containing
lavandula was used in the inhalation group. The collected data were analyzed by independent t-test
using SPSS version 13 considering P<0.05.
Results: The average of anxiety level in the first group decreased from 51.00±8.94 to 38.61±9.79 and
in the massage group from 50.58+9.47 to 39.25+10.42 before and after the intervention.The results of
independent t-test showed no significant statistical difference between the two groups after the
intervention (p=0.766).
Conclusion: The findings showed that massage and inhalation aromatherapy were effecting equally on
the reduction of anxiety level, and they are proposed for reduction of anxiety in preoperative period as
a significant clinical intervention