Anxiolytic Effect of Aromatherapy Massage in Patients with Breast Cancer

Jiro Imanishi¹, Hiroko Kuriyama¹, Ichiro Shigemori¹, Satoko Watanabe¹, Yuka Aihara², Masakazu Kita¹, Kiyoshi Sawai³, Hiroo Nakajima³, Noriko Yoshida⁴, Masahiro Kunisawa⁴, Masanori Kawase⁵ and Kenji Fukui⁴

¹Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, ²Department of Psychosomatic Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, 10-15 Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka 570-8506, ³Department of Endocrine and Breast Surgery, ⁴Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566 and ⁵Department of Psychology, Kyoto Notre Dame University, 1 Minami-Nonogamicho, Shimogamo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-0847, Japan

We examined how aromatherapy massage influenced psychologic and immunologic parameters in 12 breast cancer patients in an open semi-comparative trial. We compared the results 1 month before aromatherapy massage as a waiting control period with those during aromatherapy massage treatment and 1 month after the completion of aromatherapy sessions. The patients received a 30 min aromatherapy massage twice a week for 4 weeks (eight times in total). The results showed that anxiety was reduced in one 30 min aromatherapy massage in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test and also reduced in eight sequential aromatherapy massage sessions in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) test. Our results further suggested that aromatherapy massage ameliorated the immunologic state. Further investigations are required to confirm the anxiolytic effect of aromatherapy in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: anxiety – aromatherapy massage – breast cancer

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