The effect of aromatherapy with orange essential oils on sleep quality in the school-age children whit ALL

Sleep disturbances among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are a commonly reported problem. One of the methods to improve sleep quality is aromatherapy. The present study aims to examine the effect of inhaling essential oil of orange on sleep quality among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This is a quasi-experimental study in which 60 children admitted to oncology unit of Shafa hospital affiliated to Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Ahvaz, Iran) were allocated in two intervention and control groups. Research instruments were demographic information questionnaire and the standard Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Subjects included hospitalized school-aged children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and with sleep quality score of higher than 41. Intervention included inhaling essential oil of orange, three days a week, three times daily. In control group, distilled water was used as placebo. Data was analyzed using SPSS software, version 21. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of main characteristics. There was a significant decrease in sleep quality score in intervention group before and after intervention (74.86±8.94 and 52.91±11.14 respectively, p<0.0001) but this difference was not significant in control group. Results showed that inhaling essential oil of orange has a positive impact on sleep quality among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and it can be used as a useful method in improving their quality of sleep.