Lavender oil as a treatment for agitated behaviour in severe dementia: a placebo controlled study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether aromatherapy with lavender oil is effective in the treatment of agitated behaviour in patients with severe dementia.

DESIGN:

A placebo controlled trial with blinded observer rater.

SETTING:

A long-stay psychogeriatric ward.

PATIENTS:

Fifteen patients meeting ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for severe dementia and suffering from agitated behaviour defined as a minimum score of three points on the Pittsburgh Agitation Scale (PAS).

INTERVENTION:

A 2% lavender oil aromatherapy stream was administered on the ward for a two hour period alternated with placebo (water) every other day for a total of ten treatment sessions.

ASSESSMENTS:

For each subject 10 total PAS scores were obtained. Five during treatment and five during placebo periods.

RESULTS:

Nine patients (60%) showed an improvement, five (33%) showed no change and one patient (7%) showed a worsening of agitated behaviour during aromatherapy compared with placebo. A comparison of the group median PAS scores during aromatherapy showed a significant improvement in agitated behaviour during aromatherapy compared with placebo (median PAS scores 3 c.f. 4; Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test p = 0.016 (one-tailed)).

CONCLUSIONS:

Lavender oil administered in an aroma stream shows modest efficacy in the treatment of agitated behaviour in patients with severe dementia.

• Authors: Clive Holmes, Vivienne Hopkins, Christine Hensford, Vanessa MacLaughlin, David Wilkinson, Henry Rosenvinge
• Journal: International journal of geriatric psychiatry (Int J Geriatr Psychiatry) Vol. 17 Issue 4 Pg. 305-8 (Apr 2002) ISSN: 0885-6230 [Print] England
• PMID: 11994882 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Controlled Clinical Trial, Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Chemical References

• Oils, Volatile
• Plant Oils
• lavender oil

Topics

• Aged
• Aromatherapy
• Dementia (therapy)
• Humans
• Lavandula
• Oils, Volatile (therapeutic use)
• Plant Oils (therapeutic use)
• Psychomotor Agitation (therapy)
• Single-Blind Method
• Statistics, Nonparametric