The effect of inhalation aromatherapy with rose essential oil on the anxiety of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Background and purpose: Anxiety is one of the most common responses of patients awaiting coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery to stressful conditions before surgery. This study is intended to examine the effect of inhalation aromatherapy with rose essential oil on the anxiety of patients undergoing CABG surgery. Materials and methods: This was a single-blind randomized clinical trial of 66 patients undergoing CABG surgery. The experimental group inhaled three drops of 4% rose essential oil for 10 minutes one night and one hour before surgery. The control group did not receive any intervention from the research team. Results: The level of anxiety was measured before and 30 minutes after the intervention using the Spielberger's Anxiety Inventory. Prior to surgery, an independent t-test showed that the mean score of anxiety was not significantly different between the experimental and control groups (p = 0.41). Aromatherapy with rose essential oil did not cause any significant differences in state anxiety (P = 0.41), trait anxiety (P = 0.90), and total anxiety (P = 0.69). Conclusion: Our results revealed that inhalation aromatherapy with rose essential oil could not significantly reduce anxiety in CABG patients. Future research with larger sample sizes and using different concentrations of rose essential oil are needed to achieve more definitive conclusions.