Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 18(2012)164-168 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect CLINICAL PRACTICE Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice ELSEVIER journal homepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/ctcp The effects of clinical aromatherapy for anxiety and depression in the high risk postpartum woman-A pilot study Pam Conrad a.*,Cindy Adamsb Wellspring Pharmacy.Community Hospital North,Community Health Network,Indianapolis,IN 46077.USA PPatient Care Services,Community Health Network,Indianapolis,IN.USA ABSTRACT Keywords: Objectives:The aim of this study was to determine if aromatherapy improves anxiety and/or depression Aromatherapy in the high risk postpartum woman and to provide a complementary therapy tool for healthcare Essential oils Complementary therapy practitioners. Women's health Design:The pilot study was observational with repeated measures. Mental health Setting:Private consultation room in a Women's center of a large Indianapolis hospital. Depression Subjects:28 women,0-18 months postpartum. Interventions:The treatment groups were randomized to either the inhalation group or the aromatherapy hand m'technique.Treatment consisted of 15 min sessions,twice a week for four consecutive weeks.An essential oil blend of rose otto and lavandula angustifolia@2%dilution was used in all treatments.The non-randomized control group,comprised of volunteers,was instructed to avoid aromatherapy use during the 4 week study period.Allopathic medical treatment continued for all participants. Outcome measurements:All subjects completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale(GAD-7)at the beginning of the study.The scales were then repeated at the midway point (two weeks).and at the end of all treatments (four weeks). Results:Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)was utilized to determine differences in EPDS and/or GAD-7 scores between the aromatherapy and control groups at baseline,midpoint and end of study.No significant differences were found between aromatherapy and control groups at baseline.The midpoint and final scores indicated that aromatherapy had significant improvements greater than the control group on both EPDS and GAD-7 scores.There were no adverse effects reported. Conclusion:The pilot study indicates positive findings with minimal risk for the use of aromatherapy as a complementary therapy in both anxiety and depression scales with the postpartum woman.Future large scale research in aromatherapy with this population is recommended. 2012 Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserved. 1.Introduction with 10%of women developing anxiety either alone or in combi- nation with depression. 1.1.Background Allopathic treatment of depression in adults is predominately prescription antidepressant medication,the most prescribed class of Postpartum depression lies within the category of Perinatal medication in the US for those 20-59 years of age."Individual,group Mood Disorders and is defined as moderate to severe depression in and support therapies are also widely used in the treatment of a woman after she has given birth.It is the most common medical depression and anxiety with varying degrees of success.The post- complication of childbearing.Wei G et al2 found the total rate of partum woman,generally healthy,young and without medical major and minor postpartum depression for all cultures to be 25.3%. conditions requiring medications,is often reluctant to accept According to Moses-Kolko et al,'in the perinatal woman,there is a psychiatric diagnosis and prescriptions for medication.As a conse- a high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety symptoms, quence,these women's depression and anxiety are undetected and undertreated.New mothers,often fearful of pharmaceutical medi- cations for themselves or concerns for their breast-fed infant,seek Corresponding author complementary alternative therapies to treat their symptoms. E-mail addresses:pconrad@ecommunity.com, conradpam@gmail.com Complementary therapies are widely accessed for various (P.Conrad).CAdams@ecommunity.com(C.Adams). physical and emotional discomforts,especially among women. 1744-3881/S-see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserved. doi10.1016j.ctcp.2012.05.002The effects of clinical aromatherapy for anxiety and depression in the high risk postpartum woman e A pilot study Pam Conrad a,*, Cindy Adams b aWellspring Pharmacy, Community Hospital North, Community Health Network, Indianapolis, IN 46077, USA b Patient Care Services, Community Health Network, Indianapolis, IN, USA Keywords: Aromatherapy Essential oils Complementary therapy Women’s health Mental health Depression abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine if aromatherapy improves anxiety and/or depression in the high risk postpartum woman and to provide a complementary therapy tool for healthcare practitioners. Design: The pilot study was observational with repeated measures. Setting: Private consultation room in a Women’s center of a large Indianapolis hospital. Subjects: 28 women, 0e18 months postpartum. Interventions: The treatment groups were randomized to either the inhalation group or the aromatherapy hand m’technique. Treatment consisted of 15 min sessions, twice a week for four consecutive weeks. An essential oil blend of rose otto and lavandula angustifolia @ 2% dilution was used in all treatments. The non-randomized control group, comprised of volunteers, was instructed to avoid aromatherapy use during the 4 week study period. Allopathic medical treatment continued for all participants. Outcome measurements: All subjects completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) at the beginning of the study. The scales were then repeated at the midway point (two weeks), and at the end of all treatments (four weeks). Results: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was utilized to determine differences in EPDS and/or GAD-7 scores between the aromatherapy and control groups at baseline, midpoint and end of study. No significant differences were found between aromatherapy and control groups at baseline. The midpoint and final scores indicated that aromatherapy had significant improvements greater than the control group on both EPDS and GAD-7 scores. There were no adverse effects reported. Conclusion: The pilot study indicates positive findings with minimal risk for the use of aromatherapy as a complementary therapy in both anxiety and depression scales with the postpartum woman. Future large scale research in aromatherapy with this population is recommended.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Postpartum depression lies within the category of Perinatal Mood Disorders and is defined as moderate to severe depression in a woman after she has given birth. It is the most common medical complication of childbearing.1 Wei G et al2 found the total rate of major and minor postpartum depression for all cultures to be 25.3%. According to Moses-Kolko et al,3 in the perinatal woman, there is a high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety symptoms, with 10% of women developing anxiety either alone or in combi￾nation with depression. Allopathic treatment of depression in adults is predominately prescription antidepressant medication, the most prescribed class of medication in the US for those 20e59 years of age.4 Individual, group and support therapies are also widely used in the treatment of depression and anxiety with varying degrees of success. The post￾partum woman, generally healthy, young and without medical conditions requiring medications, is often reluctant to accept a psychiatric diagnosis and prescriptions for medication. As a conse￾quence, these women’s depression and anxiety are undetected and undertreated.5 New mothers, often fearful of pharmaceutical medi￾cations for themselves or concerns for their breast-fed infant, seek complementary alternative therapies to treat their symptoms. Complementary therapies are widely accessed for various physical and emotional discomforts, especially among women. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: pconrad@ecommunity.com, conradpam@gmail.com (P. Conrad), CAdams@ecommunity.com (C. Adams). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ctcp 1744-3881/$ e see front matter
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2012.05.002 Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 18 (2012) 164e168