J Korean Acad Womens Health Nurs.  2000 Jun;6(2):305-315.

Psychoneuroimmunologic Effect of Aromatherapy massage

• Lee SH

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the psychoneuroimmunologic effect of aromatherapy massage and to compare the effect with that of massage. This study is designed as a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study and each twenty postpartum mothers volunteered the experimental group and control group. For experimental group, researcher used massage with 2% Jojova oil mixed with Lavender and Rosemary oil (Bush Boake Allen Inc., USA) for 20 minutes, whereas for control group Jojova oil was used as luburicant for massage. Skin temperature was measured with YSI Tele-thermometer(Simpson electric Co., USA) and the concentration of IgA in salivary was analyzed by immunoturbididimeter assay(Cobas INTEGRA, Roche, Swiss) at pre and post test. Also at this time fatigue were measured by Rhoten Fatigue Scale through self-report. The data were analyzed using SAS and hypothesis was tested with unpaired t-test. The results were as follows : 1) Score of fatigue decreased significantly after use of aromatherapy massage. 2) Skin temperature increased significantly after use of aromatherapy massage. 3) Concentration of salivary IgA increased significantly after use of aromatherapy massage. In conclusion, from the standpoint of psychoneuroimmunologic view, the results suggest that aromatherapy massage have greater effect compared with massage and can be effective nursing intervention to enhance relaxation of mind and body in the postpartum mothers.

MeSH Terms

Aromatherapy*
Fatigue
Humans
Immunoglobulin A
Lavandula
Massage*
Mothers
Nursing
Postpartum Period
Relaxation
Skin Temperature
Immunoglobulin A