Effect of Inhaled Lavender and Sleep Hygiene on Self-Reported Sleep Issues: A Randomized Controlled Trial

To compare the effectiveness of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and sleep hygiene versus sleep hygiene alone on sleep quantity and sleep quality and to determine sustained effect at two-week follow-up.

A randomized controlled trial with investigator blinding and steps taken to blind the participants.

Participants' usual sleep setting.

Seventy-nine college students with self-reported sleep issues.

The intervention took place over five nights with baseline, postintervention, and two-week follow-up assessments. Both groups practiced good sleep hygiene and wore an inhalation patch on their chest at night. One group wore a patch with 55 μl of lavender essential oil and the other group wore a blank patch.

Sleep quantity was measured using a Fitbit(®) tracker and a sleep diary, and sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the NIH Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) sleep disturbance short form.

The lavender and sleep hygiene group demonstrated better sleep quality at postintervention and two-week follow-up (PSQI p=0 .01, <0.001 and PROMIS p=0.04, 0.007, respectively). The sleep-hygiene-only group also demonstrated better sleep quality but to a lesser extent (PSQI p=0.02, 0.06 and PROMIS p=0.03, 0.03, respectively). Additionally, a clinical effect was found for the lavender group at postintervention, along with a significant finding for waking feeling refreshed (p=0.01). Sleep quantity did not differ between groups.

Lavender and sleep hygiene together, and sleep hygiene alone to a lesser degree, improved sleep quality for college students with self-reported sleep issues, with an effect remaining at follow-up.