Post-COVID Sendromunda Okaliptüs Uçucu Yağının Etkileri: Pilot Çalışma

Abstract

Objective: Post-COVID syndrome is the persistence of signs and symptoms that develop during or after COVID-19 infection for longer than 12 weeks, which cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. This study aimed to examine the effects of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) aromatherapy oil on dyspnea, back pain, and anxiety in patients with post-COVID syndrome.Methods: The study included patients diagnosed with post-COVID syndrome at the chest diseases outpatient clinic of Adana City Training and Research Hospital. Before and after eucalyptus oil application, as components of post-COVID syndrome, dyspnea was evaluated using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale, back pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and anxiety using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Results: A total of 15 individuals, of whom 11 were female (73.3%) and 4 were male (26.7%), were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 45.7±10.7 years, and the mean body mass index was 24.7±3.4. The mean post-treatment values of mMRC, VAS, and BAI statistically significantly decreased compared to the pre-treatment evaluation. Conclusion: Eucalyptus aromatherapy oil inhalation was found to be effective in recovery from post-COVID syndrome symptoms, such as dyspnea, back pain, and anxiety, which affect many people across the world and can cause labor and financial losses. Therefore, we recommend considering the use of this aromatherapy oil in the complementary treatment and follow-up of these patients.