Effect of lavender aromatherapy on agitation in patients with dementia at Dementia Clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital: Pilot study

Abstract

Objective : To assess the efficacy of aromatherapy as an intervention for agitated behaviors in patients with dementia at the Dementia Clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

Method : This was a randomized controlled trial which recruited 24 patients with dementia at the Dementia Clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. The intervention was undertaken at the patient’s home by major caregivers. The sample was randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group, 12 patients with a mean age of 80.83 years (SD: 5.31), received aromatherapy with lavender oil for 1 hour every day for 2 weeks: and the control group, 12 patients with a mean age of 80.75 years (SD: 6.84), received jojoba oil for 1 hour every day for 2 weeks. The agitated behaviors were assessed by using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), pre and post intervention. Statistic analyses were conducted using Chi-square, Mann- Whitney U-test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and ANCOVA to compare the characteristics and primary outcomes of the study.

Result : The baseline CMAI score was significantly lower in the control than the experimental group. At the end of the study, 3 subjects from the control group and 1 subject from the experimental group dropped out from the study. After adjusting for the baseline CMAI score by ANCOVA, the CMAI scores had significantly decreased in the aromatherapy group with lavender oil than the jojoba oil group (p < 0.05) in ITT (LOCF).

Conclusion : The home-based aromatherapy with lavender oil was effective in reducing the agitation in patients with dementia. Nevertheless, this was a pilot study with a small sample size. Further studies are recommended using more subjects and longer periods of intervention.