Abstract
People use aromatherapy to relieve the symptoms of physical and psychological stress. However, previous studies have not precisely clarified a scientific basis for the beneficial effects of aromatherapy. Therefore, the overall purpose of this study was to elucidate the beneficial effect of aromatherapy in relieving work-related stress. Twenty-nine elementary school teachers from Taiwan participated in this study. The experimental procedures comprised 2 phases. First, we verified the effect of aromatherapy by conducting 2 blind tests. We used natural bergamot essential oil extracted from plants and synthesized a chemical essential oil as the placebo to do the aromatherapy. Second, we analyzed the performance of the aromatherapy treatment on the teachers who had various workloads. We measured the teachers' heart rate variability to evaluate their autonomic nervous system activity. The results show that only the natural bergamot essential oil had an effect and that the aromatherapy treatment relieved work-related stress of teachers with various workloads. However, the aromatherapy treatment had a weak effect on young teachers who had a heavy workload. Moreover, the aromatherapy treatment exhibited no effect on teachers who belong to the abnormal body mass index subgroup having a heavy workload.
Highlights
In modern society, job-related stress is a substantial problem because 40%–50% of all relative work misses are related to stress [1]
Several previous studies have shown that the level of work-related stress could increase the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease [2, 3], neurodegenerative diseases [4], chronic diseases of aging [5], and metabolic syndrome [6]
We focused on the Low-frequency power (LF), LF/high-frequency power (HF), LF%, and HF% indicators to analyze the effect and performance of aromatherapy
Summary
Job-related stress is a substantial problem because 40%–50% of all relative work misses are related to stress [1]. Several previous studies have shown that the level of work-related stress could increase the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease [2, 3], neurodegenerative diseases [4], chronic diseases of aging [5], and metabolic syndrome [6]. Elementary school teachers in Taiwan must address problems related to Taiwan’s low birth rate. Elementary school teachers must provide more time to process the child’s problem except teaching. All elementary school teachers are at risk of suffering from work-related stress [7]. It is crucial for elementary schools to identify appropriate methods for coping with stress
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