Summary
Objective
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Lavandula angustifolia
(lavender) inhalation on the symptoms of dysmenorrhea and the amount of
menstrual bleeding in female students with primary dysmenorrhea.
Design
This
study is an experimental clinical trial. The subjects were 96 female
students residing in dormitory at Tehran University of Medical Sciences
in 2011 and suffering from level two or three dysmenorrhea according to
the verbal multi-dimensional scoring system. The inclusion criteria were
as: being single, suffering from primary dysmenorrhea, having no
genital organs disorder, having no systemic disease, having regular
menstrual cycles, using no contraceptives, etc. The follow-up time was 4
menstrual cycles.
Interventions
The subjects were randomized into two groups: experimental (n = 48) who inhaled lavender based on sesame oil, and placebo (n = 48) who inhaled sesame oil only.
Main outcome measures
The
severity of dysmenorrhea symptoms was measured through a questionnaire,
and the amount of menstrual bleeding was measured by sanitary towel
usage.
Methods
Ordinal logistic regression and generalized estimating equation (GEE) were used to analyze the data.
Results
The symptoms of dysmenorrhea were significantly lowered in the lavender group compared to the placebo group (p < 0.001).
The amount of menstrual bleeding in the lavender group was reduced in
comparison to the placebo group but the difference was not statistically
significant (p = 0.25). No significant difference was observed for blood clot among the students (p = 0.666).
Conclusions
This
study showed that lavender inhalation was effective in alleviating
dysmenorrhea symptoms, suggesting that it could be applied by midwives
in a safe manner because of no side effects, simplicity and
cost-effectiveness for all patients.
