The effect of aromatherapy and massage administered in different ways to women with breast cancer on their symptoms and quality of life

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to assess the effect of aromatherapy and classic massage administered in various ways to breast cancer patients on their symptoms and quality of life. The sampling consisted of 280 patients. Quality of life and symptoms of the patients were evaluated once at baseline and then at week 6 and week 10 following the intervention. After intervention, the control group was observed to have lower total quality of life score and subdomain scores, whereas fragrance, massage and aromatherapy massage groups had higher scores, and the increase was more obvious particularly in the patients in the aromatherapy massage group. Similarly, whereas psychological and physical symptoms were experienced more intensely in the control group, the severity of all the symptoms experienced by the other patients decreased at week 6 and week 10 as compared with baseline especially in the group that was administered massage with aromatherapy.

Evaluating the Demand for Integrative Medicine Practices in Breast and Gynecological Cancer Patients

“…The difficulty of screening cancer patients regarding psychosocial intervention is well known [51,52]. Since the effectiveness of massages, yoga, and psychological assistance in promoting mental health has been assessed [23,24,25,53,54], modern oncology should implement such interventions in order to ensure the highest possible psychological well-being among cancer patients.…”

Experiences of aromatherapy massage among adult female cancer patients: A qualitative study

“…In line with previous studies (Bishop, Yardley, & Lewith, ; Nelson, ), this study indicated that ATM was viewed by patients with cancer as a “treat” rather than a “treatment.” Moreover, the participants valued the therapy as beneficial to them in the cancer journey. Different studies that assessed the effect of massage with or without aromatherapy on Western cancer patients described such therapy as a buffer against tension and uneasiness, balancing negative feelings of cancer treatments and prognosis with positive feelings of ATM (Billhult, Stener‐Victorin, & Bergbom, ; Dunwoody et al., ; Ovayolu, Sevig, Ovayolu, & Sevinc, ).…”

“…Interestingly, breast cancer women in our study presented with positive experiences in relation to body image. While existing literature has well described that ATM showed benefits for reducing physical discomfort and mood disturbances in breast cancer patients (Imanishi et al., ; Ovayolu et al., ), its potential benefits for enhancing one's perceived body image have not been widely covered. Previous work by Billhult et al.…”

Aromaterapi Lavender dalam Upaya menurunkan Nausea dan Vomiting Pasien Kanker Payudara yang Menjalani Kemoterapi di RSUD Dr. Soetomo Surabaya

“…Penelitian ini didukung oleh penelitian sebelumnya bahwa episode nausea dan vomiting pada ibu hamil menurun pada hari ketiga pasca inhalasi aromaterapi (Mahmoud, Ghani, Tawfik, & Ibrahim, 2013). Atau hasil penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Ovayolu, Sevið, Ovayolu, & Sevinç, (2014) tentang efektivitas aromaterapi terhadap breast cancer symptom dan kualitas hidup pasien kanker payudara. hasil penelitian tersebut menunjukkan terdapat penurunan Symptom fisik dan peningkatan kualitas hidup pasien kanker payudara dari minggu ke-6 hingga minggu ke-10 pada kelompok intervensi Lavender memiliki sejarah panjang sebagai anticonvulsant,antidepressive, anxiolytic, sedative, and penenang.…”