Investigate the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Aromatherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain
CompletedNot applicableNCT03561844
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
In recent decades, following an increased longevity in Hong Kong, there is a drastic increase in the prevalence chronic conditions, including chronic pain, seems to be the main reasons of suffering for many older adults. This condition not only pose a burden to the whole family but also the healthcare system. While conventional treatment of chronic pain using pharmacotherapy and non-pharmacological treatments has been effective for managing symptoms, owing to the adverse side effects caused by anti-psychotic drugs and the short effective period incurred by non-pharmacological interventions, development of alternative and non-pharmacological approaches for the management of pain is of urgent need. Research has shown that aromatherapy (both administered through inhalation and therapeutic massage) has been effective in reducing showing pain-relieving effects. These findings support the premise that aromatherapy and the investigators hope to provide further evidence to support the use of aromatherapy as an evidence-based mainstream intervention for pain relief in older adults with chronic pain. Whilst there is sufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of aromatherapy, few studies compared the effectiveness of the use of aromatherapy by inhalation and/or therapeutic massage. The investigators aim to address the above research gaps on the clinical application of aromatherapy on chronic pain, with a focus on comparing the differential effectiveness between administration by inhalation and administration by therapeutic massage. The proposed research aims to (1) test the efficacy and effectiveness of aromatherapy on the symptom management of chronic pain in older adults; (2) compare the effects of aromatherapy-scent (i.e., inhalation) and aromatherapy-touch (i.e., therapeutic massage) in older adults with chronic pain. This study also explores the benefits of aromatherapy on cognitive functioning, functional performance and social engagement as secondary outcomes. A r…
Study details
- Official title
- Investigate the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Aromatherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Other: aromatherapy
- Sponsor
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Start date
- 2017-11-29
- Primary completion
- 2018-09-20
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 60 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- Hong Kong
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * 60 years of age or older * having a CMMSE score over or equal to 15 * having chronic pain or a widespread pain condition such as fibromyalgia for at least 3 months * be willing to participate in the research, with informed consent signed by their guardian or carer. Exclusion Criteria: * being allergic to essential oils * refusal to give consent * being over-sensitive to tactile stimulation * having a history of kidney and liver disease * no history of an epileptic seizure.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03561844