Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Preliminary Study on Acupuncture Combined with Grain-sized Moxibustion for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Finger Joint Pain
Published on: May 16, 2025
Aromatherapy Massage Reduces Psychological Distress in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial
1Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
Purpose:
To evaluate the effects of aromatherapy massage on anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Design:
A three-arm randomized controlled trial.
Methods:
Participants were randomly assigned to aromatherapy massage, placebo massage, or control groups. Psychological distress was operationalized as anxiety and depressive symptoms, measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at baseline and post-intervention. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine group differences over time. Analyses were conducted under the missing-at-random assumption.
Results:
The aromatherapy group demonstrated greater reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms compared with controls. However, differences between the aromatherapy and placebo groups were not statistically significant. Adjusted mean differences and 95% confidence intervals indicated small-to-moderate effect sizes.
Conclusions:
Aromatherapy massage may be associated with improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms; however, these effects may not be attributable solely to the specific properties of essential oils.
Clinical Implications:
Aromatherapy massage may be a complementary approach for managing anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; however, further research is needed to clarify its specific and non-specific mechanisms.