SynthesisFrontiers in public health2022
The Effects of Aromatherapy on Anxiety and Depression in People With Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of aromatherapy interventions on psychological, physiological and academic outcomes in nursing and health sciences students: a meta-analysis.BMC medical education · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of TCM aromatherapy on post-stroke depression: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- The effectiveness of reminiscence therapy on anxiety, depression, and quality of life in adult cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Aromatherapy with inhalation effectively alleviates the test anxiety of college students: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Preoperative care through aromatherapy and music therapy: comparative study on anxiety and physiological indices in mastectomy candidates.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Trial
- Sex differences in the effects of aromatherapy on anxiety and salivary oxytocin levels.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Trial
- Identification and validation of palmitoylation-associated biomarkers in major depressive disorder.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- OPRM1 gene polymorphism linked to anxiety in cancer-related pain patients: an observational study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring the pharmacological action mechanism of chamomile essential oil on the treatment of breast cancer based on network pharmacology.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Article
- Symptom clusters and symptom network analysis during immunotherapy in lung cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Cancer centers of excellence for the multidisciplinary management of urologic cancers The intersection between education, research, and healthcare.Canadian Urological Association journal = Journal de l'Association des urologues du Canada · 2024Review
- A Comprehensive Review of Essential Oils and Their Pharmacological Activities in Neurological Disorders: Exploring Neuroprotective Potential.Neurochemical research · 2024Review
- Psychological aspects of rehabilitation nutrition: A position paper by the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Nutrition (secondary publication).Journal of general and family medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Antidepressant Effects of Essential Oils: A Review of the Past Decade (2012-2022) and Molecular Docking Study of Their Major Chemical Components.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Anxiolytic-like Effect of Inhaled Cinnamon Essential Oil and Its Main Component Cinnamaldehyde in Animal Models.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in people with cancer. Medical therapies are usually prescribed to alleviate anxiety and depression, but they are associated with a variety of adverse effects. Recently, aromatherapy showed potential as a complementary medicine to improve psychological health and wellbeing. However, its effectiveness on relieving anxiety and depression has not been established. Objective: This study explored the beneficial effects of aromatherapy on psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression in people with cancer. Methods: We searched international databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, Ebscohost, ProQuest and Scopus from inception to 31 May 2021. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias. The systematic review and meta-analysis were performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Quantitative analysis was performed on the studies that met our inclusion criteria, and Meta-analysis was performed on the studies with available data by RevMan software. Results: The quality of the literatures were assessed carefully by two researchers, a total of 17 studies were included in the systematic review and 10 articles were conducted in meta-analysis. The aromatherapy was effective in relieving anxiety (SMD = -0.49, Conclusion: In cancer patients, the aromatherapy was effective for relieving anxiety. However, there was no beneficial effect on depression and psychological wellbeing. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO, identifier:
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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.