THE COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF EFFLEURAGE MASSAGE WITH AROMATIC OIL AND NON AROMATIC OIL ON FATIGUE SEVERITY IN WOMEN WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Fatigue is one of the most common signs in multiple sclerosis and also it is one of the common reasons of low quality of life and joblessness in this group of patients. However, the prevalence of using complementary and alternative medicine is developing among people with multiple sclerosis. The present study aimed to determine the difference between the effects of massage therapy with aromatic versus non aromatic on fatigue severity in women with multiple sclerosis. This study quasi-experimental, clinical trial study included 71 women with multiple sclerosis that were randomly divided into two groups of massage therapy with aromatic oil and massage therapy with non aromatic oil. In the first group, 20 minutes of effleurage massage with lavender oil was done three times a week, for 4 weeks by one of the trained family members of patients. In the latter group, the same instruction was done using only sweet almond oil. There was a significant difference between the mean score of fatigue severity before and after intervention in the both groups of massage therapy with aromatic (p<0.000) and non aromatic (p<0.000) oil. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between the mean difference of fatigue severity between both groups (p<0.000). The findings of this study revealed that applying massage therapy regardless of the types of massage oils has a remarkable effect on fatigue severity in patients with multiple sclerosis. But it sounds that aromatherapy massage (with aromatic oil) has more effects on decreasing fatigue severity in patients with multiple sclerosis.