Objective: To determine whether aromatherapy with lavender oil is effective in the treatment of agitated behaviour in patients with severe dementia. Design: A placebo controlled trial with blinded observer rater. Setting: A long-stay psychogeriatric ward. Patients: Fifteen patients meeting ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for severe dementia and suffering from agitated behaviour defined as a minimum score of three points on the Pittsburgh Agitation Scale (PAS). Intervention: A 2% lavender oil aromatherapy stream was administered on the ward for a two hour period alternated with placebo (water) every other day for a total of ten treatment sessions. Assessments: For each subject 10 total PAS scores were obtained. Five during treatment and five during placebo periods. Results: Nine patients (60%) showed an improvement, five (33%) showed no change and one patient (7%) showed a worsening of agitated behaviour during aromatherapy compared with placebo. A comparison of the group median PAS scores during aromatherapy showed a significant improvement in agitated behaviour during aromatherapy compared with placebo (median PAS scores 3 c.f.4; Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test p=0.016 (one-tailed)). Conclusions: Lavender oil administered in an aroma stream shows modest efficacy in the treatment of agitated behaviour in patients with severe dementia. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Holmes, C., Hopkins, V., Hensford, C., MacLaughlin, V., Wilkinson, D., & Rosenvinge, H. (2002). Lavender oil as a treatment for agitated behaviour in severe dementia: A placebo controlled study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(4), 305–308. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.593
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