COMPARING THE EFFECT OF MASSAGE AND INHALATION AROMATHERAPY ON ANXIETY LEVEL OF THE PATIENTS IN THE PREOPERATIVE PERIOD

The prevalence of preoperative anxiety in adult is variable from11 to 80 percent. Delay in healing- and increasing use of narcotics and anesthetics are some of the accompanying problems with anxiety before the surgery. Inhalation aromatherapy and massage, nursing intervention, are two of the complementary medicine components to decrease anxiety. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of massage and inhalation aromatherapy on anxiety level of the patients in the preoperative period. In this clinical trial, 72 candidates for heart and abdominal surgery who admitted in Ahvaz hospitals were randomly allocated into two massage and inhalation aromatherapy groups. The Spielberger scale was used to measure the anxiety level. Massage group received twenty minutes of stroking backrub with almond oil. Twenty minute of inhalation with handkerchief containing lavandula was used in the inhalation group. The collected data were analyzed by independent t-test using SPSS version 13 considering P<0.05. The average of anxiety level in the first group decreased from 51.00±8.94 to 38.61±9.79 and in the massage group from 50.58+9.47 to 39.25+10.42 before and after the intervention.The results of independent t-test showed no significant statistical difference between the two groups after the intervention (p=0.766). The findings showed that massage and inhalation aromatherapy were effecting equally on the reduction of anxiety level, and they are proposed for reduction of anxiety in preoperative period as a significant clinical intervention.