Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Apr 13:2022:1141411.
doi: 10.1155/2022/1141411. eCollection 2022.

Effectiveness of Aromatherapy on Ameliorating Fatigue in Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Qiuting Wang  1 , Lin Wei  2 , Yueming Luo  3 , Lijun Lin  2 , Chong Deng  4 , Ping Hu  1 , Lijia Zhu  5 , Yangchen Liu  2 , Meizhen Lin  2
Affiliations
Review

Effectiveness of Aromatherapy on Ameliorating Fatigue in Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Qiuting Wang et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. .

Abstract

Background: Fatigue is a common symptom in adults that may cause physical and psychological problems and reduce quality of life. Aromatherapy could possibly provide relief for those suffering from fatigue. Here, we evaluated the effect of aromatherapy on fatigue in adults.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature, SinoMed, Wanfang, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database databases for randomized controlled trials of aromatherapy treatment for fatigue in adults from their inception to June 2021. Two reviewers searched independently, extracted the characteristics of the studies, and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and Stata v. 14.0.

Results: Nineteen studies were included in this systematic review. Aromatherapy had a significant effect on fatigue (standardized mean difference -0.64, 95% confidence interval-1.14, -0.15, I2 94.4%, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis according to aromatic type, substance, frequency, treatment duration, intervention, outcomes measurement, and population type showed that aromatherapy had a significantly greater effect in the intervention group, compared to the control group. Funnel plots and Egger's test indicated no significant publication bias.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that aromatherapy ameliorates fatigue in adults who suffer from chronic diseases. A rigorous intervention program and larger randomized controlled trials are needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of trial selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias graph.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of bias summary.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Meta-analysis of aromatherapy group versus control group on fatigue in adults.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Subgroup analysis of aromatic delivery mode.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Subgroup analysis of substance.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Subgroup analysis of frequency.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Subgroup analysis of treatment duration.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Subgroup analysis of control intervention.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Subgroup analysis of outcomes measurement.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Subgroup analysis of type of population.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Funnel plot.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Sensitivity analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Dean A. The holistic management of fatigue within palliative care. International Journal of Palliative Nursing . 2019;25(8):368–376. doi: 10.12968/ijpn.2019.25.8.368. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lumpkin S. T., Button J., Stratton L., Strassle P. D., Kim L. T. Chronic fatigue after thyroidectomy: a patient-centered survey. The American Surgeon . 2021;88(2):260–266. doi: 10.1177/0003134821989054. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lee G., Lee J.-S., Kim J. H., Hwang D. Y., Lee Y.-S. Impact of patient’s pain and fatigue on decision of discharge after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer. Annals of Coloproctology . 2019;35(4):209–215. doi: 10.3393/ac.2018.11.29. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ju A., Teixeira-Pinto A., Tong A., et al. Validation of a core patient-reported outcome measure for fatigue in patients receiving hemodialysis. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology . 2020;15(11):1614–1621. doi: 10.2215/CJN.05880420. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Golabi P., Sayiner M., Bush H., Gerber L. H., Younossi Z. M. Patient-reported outcomes and fatigue in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Clinics in Liver Disease . 2017;21(3):565–578. doi: 10.1016/j.cld.2017.03.011. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources