The Mid-Term Impact of a Hedonic Aroma on Psychophysiological Indicators in Women With Breast Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Marta Pereira, Célia Moreira, Alberto C P Dias, Pawel Izdebski, Cristina Nogueira-Silva, M Graça Pereira
{"title":"The Mid-Term Impact of a Hedonic Aroma on Psychophysiological Indicators in Women With Breast Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.","authors":"Marta Pereira, Célia Moreira, Alberto C P Dias, Pawel Izdebski, Cristina Nogueira-Silva, M Graça Pereira","doi":"10.1002/smi.70230","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study investigated the impact of essential oils on women undergoing chemotherapy (CT) treatment for breast cancer (BC), comparing an experimental group (EG) exposed to hedonic aromas with a control group (CG) receiving standard CT. A total of 112 women were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving standard chemotherapy treatment or an experimental group receiving an additional essential oil intervention during two consecutive chemotherapy cycles. The primary outcomes were quality of life (QoL), anxiety, and depression whereas the secondary outcomes were emotional distress, need for help, treatment beliefs, treatment side effects, illness perceptions, self-efficacy for coping, working memory, and cortisol. Mixed-effects models were used to analyse the differences between the two groups over time, more precisely, from the first CT session involving essential oils (T1) to two sessions later (T3), with a 6-week interval. Although no significant between-group differences were found for the primary outcomes, variations emerged in the patterns of association between these measures and several secondary outcomes over time. Specifically, in the EG, the association between baseline and subsequent anxiety remained stable, whereas this link weakened in the control group (CG). At T3, the adverse impact of higher anxiety on QoL and chemotherapy necessity beliefs was weaker or absent in the EG compared to the CG. Physiologically, higher pre-session salivary cortisol at T3 was linked to better QoL only in the EG, suggesting a normative acute stress response, whereas the CG showed attenuated reactivity. Other secondary outcomes, such as cognitive function and treatment side effects, did not differ significantly between groups. These findings suggest that essential oil inhalation may help stabilise anxiety levels associated with chemotherapy and contribute to QoL. These findings have relevant clinical implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":51175,"journal":{"name":"Stress and Health","volume":"42 5","pages":"e70230"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Stress and Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.70230","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The study investigated the impact of essential oils on women undergoing chemotherapy (CT) treatment for breast cancer (BC), comparing an experimental group (EG) exposed to hedonic aromas with a control group (CG) receiving standard CT. A total of 112 women were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving standard chemotherapy treatment or an experimental group receiving an additional essential oil intervention during two consecutive chemotherapy cycles. The primary outcomes were quality of life (QoL), anxiety, and depression whereas the secondary outcomes were emotional distress, need for help, treatment beliefs, treatment side effects, illness perceptions, self-efficacy for coping, working memory, and cortisol. Mixed-effects models were used to analyse the differences between the two groups over time, more precisely, from the first CT session involving essential oils (T1) to two sessions later (T3), with a 6-week interval. Although no significant between-group differences were found for the primary outcomes, variations emerged in the patterns of association between these measures and several secondary outcomes over time. Specifically, in the EG, the association between baseline and subsequent anxiety remained stable, whereas this link weakened in the control group (CG). At T3, the adverse impact of higher anxiety on QoL and chemotherapy necessity beliefs was weaker or absent in the EG compared to the CG. Physiologically, higher pre-session salivary cortisol at T3 was linked to better QoL only in the EG, suggesting a normative acute stress response, whereas the CG showed attenuated reactivity. Other secondary outcomes, such as cognitive function and treatment side effects, did not differ significantly between groups. These findings suggest that essential oil inhalation may help stabilise anxiety levels associated with chemotherapy and contribute to QoL. These findings have relevant clinical implications.
期刊介绍：
Stress is a normal component of life and a number of mechanisms exist to cope with its effects. The stresses that challenge man"s existence in our modern society may result in failure of these coping mechanisms, with resultant stress-induced illness. The aim of the journal therefore is to provide a forum for discussion of all aspects of stress which affect the individual in both health and disease.
The Journal explores the subject from as many aspects as possible, so that when stress becomes a consideration, health information can be presented as to the best ways by which to minimise its effects.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
