Effectiveness of lavender-based aromatherapy in postpartum emotional symptoms: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Emotional symptoms that occur on days or weeks after laboring, e.g., postpartum depression (PPD) and postpartum anxiety (PPA), are prevalent among mothers. However, these symptoms are always under treated because of an insufficient understanding of the nature of the disorders, either among mothers or professionals. Because of this reason, a home remedy may be more feasible if proved effective. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of lavender-based aromatherapy in postpartum emotion symptoms. Possible trials were searched in the Pubmed and Embase and the standard mean difference (SMD) was used to show the difference between groups. The meta-analysis results of 3 included trials showed a reduction of emotional symptoms at 2 weeks postpartum in the aromatherapy group compared with the control (SMD: -0.41 [-0.81, -0.13]) with no heterogeneity across trials (I^2 = 24%, P = 0.25), and a trend toward reduction at 4-6 weeks postpartum (SMD: -0.69 [-1.39, 0.02]) with a significant moderate heterogeneity across trials (I^2 = 75%, P = 0.05). Our study found some weak evidence suggesting that lavender-based inhalation aromatherapy is effective in relieving emotional symptoms in postpartum weeks. More trials are suggested before clinical recommendation.

關鍵字

lavender ； aromatherapy ； inhalation ； postpartum depression ； postpartum anxiety ； labor

並列摘要

產婦在生產數天到數週後經常出現產後憂鬱和產後焦慮..等情緒症狀，這些症狀常因為產婦或醫療人員對疾病的了解不足而缺乏治療。因此，如果可以證明產婦使用芳香療法對情緒症狀的緩解效益，可能有助於單純的正規醫療。本研究目的是納入探究以薰衣草為主成份之芳香療法對於產後情緒症狀之效益之隨機控制試驗，進行統合分析。我們搜索了Pubmed和Embase兩個醫學資料庫以找尋可能適用的試驗報告，採用標準平均差來呈現組間差異。統合三個納入的試驗報告顯示，在產後2週時芳香療法組的情緒症狀的降低程度明顯比控制組來得大（標準平均差：-0.41 [-0.81, -0.13]）且試驗之間無異質性(I2 = 24%, P = 0.25)；在產後4-6週，芳香療法組的情緒症狀呈現降低的趨勢（標準平均差：-0.69 [-1.39, 0.02]），且試驗之間有明顯中度的異質性(I2 = 75%, P = 0.05)。本研究發現微弱的證據，指出以薰衣草為主成份之嗅吸芳香療法有助於舒緩產後數週所出現的情緒症狀。不過，在進一步建議臨床使用前，應先執行更多的臨床試驗。