Kanserle İlişkili Anksiyetenin Yönetiminde İnhalasyon ve Masaj Yoluyla Uygulanan Aromaterapinin Etkisi: Sistematik Bir Derleme.

Cancer patients often use complementary therapy methods to reduce or eliminate their anxiety caused by the disease and treatment. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effect of aromatherapy applied via massage and inhalation on anxiety in cancer patients. The study was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane guideline for systematic review. Science Direct, Web of Science, Ovid, CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Library, ProQuest and ULAKBIM databases were reviewed in English in April 2021 without limiting by date. Keywords including cancer, neoplasm, malignancy, aromatherapy, essential oils, inhalation, massage, randomized controlled trial and their combinations. Eight studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in the systematic review. Were used for literature review. Aromatherapy was applied by inhalation in 3 studies, by massage in 4 studies, which were included. In one study, aromatherapy was applied by both inhalation and massage. Although lavender is the most commonly used aromatic oil, different essential oils have been added in some studies. Inhalation aromatherapy was applied between 1-56 sessions for 5-20 minutes and aromatherapy massage was applied between 4-12 sessions for 30-60 minutes. It was stated that no side effects were observed in one study of inhalation aromatherapy, and no explanation was made about whether any side effects were observed in all other studies. In this systematic review, aromatherapy massage was found to be more effective than inhalation aromatherapy to in the short term reduce anxiety. It was concluded that it is not effective in the long term and its effectiveness increases when applied combined via essential oils. There is a need for qualitative and randomized controlled studies using methods that examine the experiences of cancer patients using these methods, as well as studies evaluating the effect of aromatherapy applied by inhalation or massage on anxiety in cancer patients.