Working Paper of Public Health

Efficacy of lavender essential oil aromatherapy in reducing anxiety and pain in patients undergoing prostate biopsy: an interventional study

2025-03-04T09:21:35+00:00

Background: prostate biopsy can cause physical and psychological discomfort, such as pain and anxiety. Aromatherapy with lavender oil has been suggested to reduce these symptoms. This study evaluated the effectiveness of lavender essential oil aromatherapy in reducing anxiety and pain in patients undergoing prostate biopsy.

Materials and Methods: multicentre, randomised, non-pharmacological trial involving 50 patients. The experimental group (n=25) received lavender aromatherapy before surgery, while the control group (n=25) received standard care. Anxiety was measured with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), pain with the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and patient satisfaction with a Likert scale.

Results: the lavender group showed a significant reduction in anxiety (10 points vs 3 points in the control group). Pain decreased significantly in the lavender group (from 6.2 to 2.1, p<0.05) and in the control group (from 6.0 to 4.5). Patient satisfaction was higher in the lavender group (mean 8.7 vs 6.3, p<0.05).

Conclusions: aromatherapy with lavender oil significantly reduces anxiety and pain during prostate biopsy, improving patient satisfaction.

Impact of a physical activity program for psychophysical well-being in the dialysed and transplanted patient: a pilot study

2025-03-04T09:21:32+00:00

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem. This study evaluated the effects of Nordic Walking on health and quality of life in patients with CKD.

Materials and Methods: single-centre, non-pharmacological, single-arm pilot study in 15 patients undergoing haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplantation. The intervention consisted of 22 Nordic Walking sessions over two and a half months. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included blood pressure, oxygen saturation, bioimpedance analysis, and quality of life. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon's T-test, with significance p<0.05.

Results: improvements were observed in blood pressure (137.5±19.6 mmHg at T0 vs 130.8±16.3 mmHg at T1, p=0.03), SpO₂ (98.5±0.6% vs 99.1±0.3%, p=0.02) and HDL cholesterol (48.8±11.1 mg/dL vs 54.9±19.6 mg/dL, p=0.05). Lean mass increased (73.7±8.9% to 76.1±9.8%, p=0.04) while fat mass decreased (26.3± .9% to 23.9±9.8%, p=0.04). Quality of life scores improved significantly (76.6±14.4 at T0 vs 87.8±6.9 at T1, p=0.01).

Conclusions: Nordic Walking improved cardiovascular health and quality of life in people with CKD. More research is needed to confirm these findings.

Medication adherence in patients with carotid artery stenosis before/after enrollment in CARUSO study

2025-02-13T13:17:17+00:00

Background: this work analyses the medical therapy adherence of patients enrolled in a clinical study. The primary end- point of this research is to find out if enrolment in a clinical study can improve adherence to antiplatelet and/or lipid- lowering therapy.
Materials and Methods: the first 92 asymptomatic patients with carotid artery stenosis ≥50% enrolled in the CARUSO study were considered. Overall baseline “compliance” to anti-platelet treatment was stratified in patients with good, average, and poor adherence.

Results: overall compliance with anti-platelet therapy was good for 66 patients (95.7%) out of 69 patients already under this treatment. A significant correlation between good adherence to pharmacological therapy and the presence of previ- ous cardiovascular events at the time of enrolment: 92.3% (one event), 84.6% (two events), 50% (three events) vs 35.1% of those without events (p<0.001). After 6 months, good adherence was found to extend even to patients with no previ- ous events (p=0.083).

Conclusions: this research showed a positive trend in improving adherence to lipid-lowering therapy (88.3% vs 56.7%, p=0.002) and maintenance of a high level (> 95%) of adherence to anti-platelet therapy, after the enrolment in a clinical study.