The effect of aromatherapy with geranium essential oil on premenstrual syndrome in students

 Premenstrual syndrome, by affecting different aspects of women's lives, needs to be controlled. Due to the lack of knowledge of the exact cause of this syndrome, several treatments have been proposed for it. One of the treatment methods is the use of aromatherapy, The present study was performed with aim to determine the effect of aromatherapy with geranium essential oil on premenstrual syndrome in students.

This clinical trial study was conducted in 2020 on 80 students with premenstrual syndrome in Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. For the intervention group (5 days before menstruation), geranium essential oil and in the control group, a placebo (odorless sweet almond oil) was used. After two consecutive menstrual cycles, the post-test questionnaire was completed. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software (version 22) and chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There was no significant difference between the mean scores of the dimensions and the total score of the premenstrual syndrome questionnaire in the two intervention and control groups before the implementation of aromatherapy (p>0.05), while after the implementation of aromatherapy, there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the dimensions and the total score between the two groups, so that the intensity of the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome significantly decreased in the aromatherapy group (p<0.05).

Aromatherapy with geranium essential oil is effective in reducing the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and its use is recommended as a complementary, cheap, non-invasive treatment with few side effects.