痛經是婦女常見的困擾之一,許多文獻都提出使用另類療法來減輕痛經婦女的不適,而芳香療法即是其中之一種,故本研究目的在探討精油緩解原發性痛經疼痛程度之成效。本研究爲類實驗法研究設計,以某技術學院有痛經學生爲對象,採方便取樣,隨機分派方式,分成基礎油按摩組27人及精油按摩組27人。利用自塡式問卷爲工具,問卷分成四部分:包括基本資料、視覺類比量表、疼痛強度等級及疼痛持續時間,分別於按摩前後塡寫疼痛狀況。精油使用方式爲每天一次,按摩腹部及下背部三分鐘,直到下一次月經結束。使用統計比較兩組前後疼痛分數與疼痛持續時間,結果顯示兩組疼痛皆達顯著差異,使用精油組比基礎油組在疼痛強度及疼痛持續時間更具效果,顯示精油按摩有助於緩解痛經。
Dysmenorrhea is a common cause of distress for women. Many kinds of complementary therapies are discussed in the literature on the subject, and aromatherapy is one of those therapies. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of aromatherapy as a means of relief of primary dysmenorrhea. This study used a quasi-experimental design. The subjects were recruited from a technological college. They were divided into a carrier oil massage group and an essential oil massage group by convenient sampling and random assignment. Each group comprised 27 persons. The study instrument was a self-fill questionnaire. This comprised four parts, concerning pain before and after treatment, including: basic data of the subjects, a visual analogue scale for pain, intensity of pain, and duration of pain. The subjects of both groups massaged their abdomen and lower back for three minutes per day until their next menstruation. All data were analyzed by statistics and the two groups scores for pain and duration of pain were compared. The results showed significant differences between the two groups. The results of the group treated with essential oil were better than those of the group treated with carrier oil, in terms of intensity and duration of pain. Massage with essential oils can be used to relieve primary dysmenorrhea.