Review

Furnishings of lavander on anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Open up access

Abstruse

Groundwork

Anxiety is one of the uprising psychiatric disorders of the last decades and lavender administration has been traditionally suggested as a possible treatment. The objective of this review is to assess the efficacy of lavander, in any class and way of administration, on anxiety and anxiety-related conditions.

Methods

The PRISMA guidelines were followed. Retrieved data were qualitatively and quantitatively synthesized. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and Not-Randomized Studies (NRSs) which investigated the efficacy of lavender, in whatsoever form and way of administration, on patients with anxiety, involved in anxiety-inducing settings or undergoing feet-inducing activities, compared to any blazon of control, without language restrictions, were identified through electronic database searches. Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Spider web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were systematically searched. All databases were screened upwardly to November 2018. Chance of bias was assessed with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the following domains were considered: randomization, resource allotment sequence concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome information, selective outcome reporting, and other biases.

Results

65 RCTs (7993 participants) and 25 NRSs (1200 participants) were included in the qualitative synthesis and 37 RCTs (3964 participants) were included in the quantitative synthesis. Overall, the qualitative synthesis indicated that 54 RCTs and 17 NRSs reported at to the lowest degree a significant upshot in favor of lavender apply for anxiety. The quantitative synthesis showed that lavander inhalation tin can significantly reduce feet levels measured with any validated scale (Hedges' g = −0.73 [95% CI −i.00 to −0.46], p < 0.00001, 1682 participants), every bit well as state anxiety (Spielberger'due south state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI)-State hateful deviation = −five.99 [95% CI −ix.39 to −two.59], p < 0.001, 901 participants) and trait anxiety (STAI-Trait mean difference = −8.fourteen [95% CI −14.44 to −1.84], p < 0.05, 196 participants). Lavander inhalation did not evidence a pregnant consequence in reducing systolic claret pressure level as a physiological parameter of feet. A meaning effect in diminishing anxiety levels was too institute in favor of the use of oral Silexan® eighty mg/die for at least half-dozen weeks (Hamilton Anxiety Scale mean difference = −2.xc [95% CI −4.86 to −0.95], p = 0.004, 1173 participants; Zung Self-rating Anxiety Calibration mean deviation = −2.62 [95% CI −iv.84 to −0.39], p < 0.05, 451 participants) or of the administration of massage with lavender oil (Hedges' k = −0.66 [95% CI −0.97 to −0.35], p < 0.0001, 448 participants).

Discussion

The most important limitation of this review is the low average quality of available studies on the topic. The bulk of included RCTs were characterized past a high overall take chances of bias. Another limitation regards the heterogeneity of written report designs, especially with regard to non-oral ways of administration. Overall, oral administration of lavender essential oil proves to be effective in the treatment of anxiety, whereas for inhalation there is merely an indication of an result of reasonable size, due to the heterogeneity of available studies. Lavender essential oil administered through massage appears effective, but available studies are not sufficient to make up one's mind whether the do good is due to a specific effect of lavender. Further high-quality RCTs with more than homogeneous study designs are needed to ostend these findings. Available data outlines a safety profile for lavander-based interventions, although more attending should be paid to the collection and reporting of safety data in future studies. Considering these findings, since treatments with lavender essential oil generally seem safe, and, in the instance of inhalation, likewise simple and cheap, they are a therapeutic option which may be considered in some clinical contexts.

Other

The present systematic review was not funded and was registered in PROSPERO under the post-obit number: CRD42019130126.

Keywords

Lavender

Anxiety

Systematic review

Meta-analysis

Abbreviations

BAI

Brook Anxiety Inventory

CBT

cognitive-behavioral therapy

DASS

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale

DBP

Diastolic Blood Pressure level

EMA

European Medicines Agency

FAS

Face Anxiety Scale (FAS)

GABA

gamma-aminobutyric acrid

GAD

Generalized Feet Disorder

HADS

Hospital Feet and Depression Scale

HAM-A

Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale

HMPC

Herbal Medicinal Products

HRV

Heart Rate Variability

MDAS

Modified Dental Anxiety Scale

NRSs

Not-Randomized Studies

POMS

Contour of Moods Scale

RCTs

Randomized Controlled Trials

SBP

Systolic Blood Pressure

SNRIs

serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors

SSRIs

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

STAI

Spielberger's Country and Trait Feet Inventory

VAS

Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Zung-SAS

Zung Self-reported Anxiety Calibration

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© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier GmbH.