Aromatherapy and behaviour disturbances in dementia: a randomized controlled trial

A random controlled trial of the relaxing effects of an aromatherapy massag e on disordered behaviour in dementia was conducted. Twenty-one patients we re randomly allocated into one of three conditions, aromatherapy and massag e (ANI), conversation and aromatherapy (CA) and massage only (M). AM showed the greatest reduction in the frequency of excessive motor behaviour of al l three conditions. This reached statistical significance between the hours of three and four pm (p < 0.05). Post hoc analysis suggested that at this time of day the AM consistently reduced motor behaviour when compared with CA (p = 0.05). This provides preliminary evidence of a measurable sedative effect of aromatherapy massage on dementia within a robust scientific parad igm. Further research is recommended with an expanded sample size. Copyrigh t (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.