Lavender Aromatherapy to Reduce Anxiety During Intrauterine Insemination: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Tiffanny Jones, MacKenzie Purdy, Elizabeth A Stewart, Susanne M Cutshall, Matthew A Hathcock, Saswati Mahapatra, Brent A Bauer, Alessandra J Ainsworth, Tiffanny Jones, MacKenzie Purdy, Elizabeth A Stewart, Susanne M Cutshall, Matthew A Hathcock, Saswati Mahapatra, Brent A Bauer, Alessandra J Ainsworth

Abstract

Background: Infertility is a global public health issue. Therapies such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) are effective but may be associated with considerable anxiety. Preliminary data suggest that decreasing this anxiety might lead to improved outcomes.

Objective: To determine whether lavender aromatherapy (LA) reduces anxiety during an IUI procedure.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial of women undergoing IUI at a hospital-based fertility clinic. The intervention and comparison were the use of LA vs water. Measurements were the change in anxiety level during an IUI procedure, with secondary assessment of pain scores, patient satisfaction, and pregnancy rates.

Results: In total, 67 women were screened, and 62 women randomly assigned to either placebo (n = 31) or LA (n = 31). No differences were observed in baseline demographic characteristics or visual analog scores for anxiety before IUI (mean [95% CI], 33.9 [25.2 to 45.6] mm vs 41.0 [33.0 to 49.0] mm) in the LA and placebo groups. However, a statistically significant change in anxiety was observed after LA inhalation during the procedure (mean [95% CI], -11.2 [-19.1 to -3.2]) compared with placebo (mean [95% CI], 1.3 [-5.6 to 8.2]; P = .02). No significant difference was observed in pain during IUI in the LA group vs placebo group. Patient satisfaction was high, with 93% of respondents in the LA group satisfied with the aromatherapy during their procedure. Additionally, 76% of participants who received placebo reported that they would prefer to use LA during their IUI. No statistically significant difference was detected in pregnancy rates between the 2 groups: 19.4% with LA vs 9.7% with placebo (P = .47).

Conclusion: LA reduced anxiety and was preferred by women during IUI fertility treatments.

Keywords: anxiety; infertility; intrauterine insemination; lavender aromatherapy.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

© The Author(s) 2021.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Consolidated standards of reporting trials flow diagram. LA indicates lavender aromatherapy.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Scatter and box plot showing mean change during intrauterine insemination (IUI) from pre-IUI. A, Anxiety level. B, Pain level. Median (interquartile range) of the differences is shown. LA indicates lavender aromatherapy.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Lavender aromatherapy (LA) results proposed for LA satisfaction survey. Among participants who received LA, 92.6% (n = 25) were satisfied with its effect and 6.5% (n = 2) had a neutral response. Of survey respondents, 74.5% (n = 38) preferred LA, 23.5% (n = 12) were neutral about LA, and 2.0% (n = 1) had a negative response. In addition, 78.4% (n = 40) would recommend LA to another patient, 19.6% (n = 10) were neutral, and 2.0% (n = 1) would not recommend its use. Among all survey participants, 76.5% (n = 39) responded that they would use LA again, 21.6% (n = 11) were neutral, and 2.0% (n = 1) would not use LA again. Footnote “a” indicates patients randomly assigned to LA (n = 27); footnote “b,” all participants who completed the survey (n = 51).

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