The Effect of Inhaling the Aroma of Rosemary Essential Oil on the Pre-Hospital Emergency Personnel Stress and Anxiety: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of stress and anxiety in pre-hospital emergency personnel is high. Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of inhaling the Aroma of Rosemary essential oil on stress and anxiety of emergency medical personnel. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 8 pre-hospital emergency stations affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences in Birjand city were randomly selected. Then, 4 stations were randomly allocated to the intervention group and 4 stations were assigned to the control group. In the next step, among personnel of each station about 8-10 participants were selected according to the inclusion criteria (39 participants in each group). Afterwards, these participants completed demographic and DASS-42 questionnaires (stress and anxiety subscales). Badges with 25% rosemary essential oil in the intervention group and badges impregnated with refined sweet almond oil were used in the control group for two hours in 3 shifts per week for one month. The anxiety and stress subscales of the DASS-42 questionnaire were completed by the participants one hour as well as 30 days after the last intervention in each group. In this study, chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests were used. Results: The statistical analysis showed that the mean stress and anxiety scores in the two groups did not have significant differences before intervention (P > 0.05). One hour after the last intervention, statistical analysis showed that the mean of stress scores in the intervention group was significantly reduced compared to the control group (P 0.05). In the case of anxiety, one hour after the intervention the mean scores in the intervention group were significantly decreased compared to the control group (P 0.05). Conclusions: Aromatherapy with rosemary essential oil can have positive effects in reducing stress and anxiety in pre-hospital emergency personnel.