SynthesisBMC complementary medicine and therapies2022
Aromatherapy with single essential oils can significantly improve the sleep quality of cancer patients: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Essential oil-based interventions for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in women with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Using Integrative Therapies to Improve Patient-Reported Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Living Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Guideline
- Effects of Aromatherapy on Physical and Mental Health of Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy and/or Chemotherapy: A Meta-Analysis.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of aromatherapy on chemotherapy-related symptom management.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Effect of aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil on sleep quality, pain, and mental and psychiatric disorders among breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Trial
- The effects of aromatherapy and music on pain, anxiety, and stress levels in palliative care patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Trial
- Effectiveness of Aromatherapy in Early Palliative Care for Oncology Patients: Blind Controlled Study.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2023Trial
- Feasibility and safety of combined touch care and aromatherapy in hospitalized patients with thoracic malignancies: A prospective single-arm study.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2026Article
- Comparing the Effects of Lavender Aromatherapy With Virtual Reality on the Quality of Sleep in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Health science reports · 2026Article
- sCentInDB: a database of essential oil chemical profiles of Indian medicinal plants.Molecular diversity · 2026Article
- Need for transparent reporting of aromatherapy intervention.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- A comparative analysis of the effects of knowledge-attitude-practice nursing on mental state, sleep quality, and self-efficacy in cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Effects of lavender essential oil inhalation aromatherapy on postoperative sleep quality in patients with intracranial tumors: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Feasibility and Usability of EnergyPoints: A Mobile Health App to Guide Acupressure Use for Cancer Symptom Management.Integrative cancer therapiesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the effect of aromatherapy on sleep quality in cancer patients.
methodsPublished literature on the effect of aromatherapy in cancer patients with sleep disorders in the form of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were systematically retrieved and screened from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang databases from inception to November 2021. The methodological quality of the included studies was critically and independently evaluated by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for RCTs. The correlated data were extracted using the pre-designed form, and all analyses were performed using Reviewer Manager version 5.4. Due to the difference in sleep quality instruments, the data extracted in this study were in the form of standard mean difference (SMD).
resultsTen RCTs included 933 patients (experimental group: 474, control group: 459), and the risk of bias in the included studies was moderate. Aromatherapy could significantly improve the sleep quality of cancer patients [SMD = - 0.79, 95% CI (- 0.93, - 0.66), p < 0.01], especially those with breast cancer [SMD = - 0.98, 95% CI (- 1.57, - 0.40), p < 0.01]. Aromatherapy with single essential oil had a better effect on sleep quality [SMD = -0.94, 95%CI (- 1.25, - 0.62), p < 0.01], of which lavender essential oil had the best effect [SMD = -1.06,95%CI (- 1.49, - 0.63), p < 0.01] while compound essential oils had no effect on sleep quality improvement in cancer patients [SMD = -0.21, 95%CI (- 0.57, 0.14), p = 0.23]. Four of the ten RCTs reported the occurrence of adverse events, of which only one RCT indicated that patients had headache and sneezing while the remaining six did not.
conclusionsThis meta-analysis of 10 RCTs reveals that aromatherapy with single essential oil had a substantial effect on the sleep quality of cancer patients and should be recommended as a beneficial complementary therapy to promote sleep quality in cancer patients.
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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.