The effects of Rosa damascene aromatherapy on mood and sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Individuals under stress may experience a range of negative emotions and sleep disturbances. There is preliminary evidence that Rosa damascene (RD) aromatherapy is effective in improving symptoms such as negative mood and sleep. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of RD aromatherapy on anxiety, anxiety-related hemodynamic changes, depression, stress, and sleep quality, while also exploring potential moderating factors that could influence the outcome measures.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of existing randomized controlled trials on RD aromatherapy in the treatment of mood and sleep. A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We identified 28 randomized controlled trials that were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis.

The meta-analysis demonstrated that RD aromatherapy significantly alleviated anxiety symptoms (SMD = -1.31; 95% CI, -1.74 to-0.88; p < 0.001), reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP) (SMD = -0.33; 95% CI, -0.64 to-0.02; p = 0.038), and mitigated stress symptoms (SMD = -0.76; 95% CI, -1.07 to -0.44; p < 0.001), while also improving sleep quality (SMD = -2.10; 95% CI, -3.54 to -0.66; p = 0.004). The effects on depressive symptoms and pulse rate (PR) were minimal (p > 0.1).

Our findings suggest that RD aromatherapy can effectively reduce anxiety, improve related hemodynamic parameters, and alleviate stress symptoms, while also enhancing sleep quality. However, its effects on depressive symptoms and PR were smaller, indicating a need for larger randomized trials.

Identifier CRD42024593400, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024593400.