The Effect of Aromatherapy on Elderly Persons With Dry Skin

Abstract

Dry skin, which is one of the most frequent dermatological problems seen in the elderly population, is an important problem that increases with aging. This study was conducted as a randomized controlled experimental trial to determine the effect of aromatherapy, applied to elderly persons residing in a nursing home in a city center, on dry skin. Elderly persons were grouped into a control group (20 elderly persons), an olive oil group (20 elderly persons), and an aromatherapy group (20 elderly persons). When examining between-measurements differences of the groups in the study, skin moisture levels of the elderly individuals in the aromatherapy group increased in all zones, arm, leg, back, and chest, at measurements of the second and fourth weeks compared with the first measurements. This improvement was determined to be higher after the second week. Skin moisture levels of elderly persons in the olive oil group were determined to significantly increase at the arm zone in the fourth week and at the back zone in the second and fourth weeks compared with the first measurements. Skin moisture levels of elderly persons in the control group, on the contrary, did not change in the second and fourth weeks compared with the first measurements and their dry skin continued at the same level. The intervention performed in this manner in the present study can be used in the clinical practice as an effective nursing intervention to reducing dry skin among elderly persons.