ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2006
Evaluating effects of aromatherapy massage on sleep in children with autism: a pilot study.
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- A practice pathway for the identification, evaluation, and management of insomnia in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.Pediatrics · 2012Guideline
- The Effect of Foot Reflexology on Sleep Quality in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Under Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Health science reports · 2025Article
- The Impact of Relaxation Massage Prior to Bedtime on Sleep Quality and Quantity in People with Symptoms of Chronic Insomnia: A Home-Based Sleep Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Sleeping without Prescription: Management of Sleep Disorders in Children with Autism with Non-Pharmacological Interventions and Over-the-Counter Treatments.Brain sciences · 2020Review
- Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of Aroma Massage with Lavender Essential Oil: an Overview.International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork · 2020Article
- The Effects of Aromatherapy on Intensive Care Unit Patients' Stress and Sleep Quality: A Nonrandomised Controlled Trial.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2017Article
- The effect of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in breast cancer patients.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research · 2014Article
- Lavender and the nervous system.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2013Article
- Complementary and alternative medicine treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders.Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America · 2008Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Previous studies have found beneficial effects of aromatherapy massage for agitation in people with dementia, for pain relief and for poor sleep. Children with autism often have sleep difficulties, and it was thought that aromatherapy massage might enable more rapid sleep onset, less sleep disruption and longer sleep duration. Twelve children with autism and learning difficulties (2 girls and 10 boys aged between 12 years 2 months to 15 years 7 months) in a residential school participated in a within subjects repeated measures design: 3 nights when the children were given aromatherapy massage with lavender oil were compared with 14 nights when it was not given. The children were checked every 30 min throughout the night to determine the time taken for the children to settle to sleep, the number of awakenings and the sleep duration. One boy's data were not analyzed owing to lengthy absence. Repeated measures analysis revealed no differences in any of the sleep measures between the nights when the children were given aromatherapy massage and nights when the children were not given aromatherapy massage. The results suggest that the use of aromatherapy massage with lavender oil has no beneficial effect on the sleep patterns of children with autism attending a residential school. It is possible that there are greater effects in the home environment or with longer-term interventions.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.